ATP: Djokovic wins Beijing, returns to Top 10

Novak Djokovic returned to Beijing, a city he has never lost in, and captured a record-extending 7th trophy at the ATP 500 event. The Serb had not played Beijing since 2015 and had not won a tournament since November in Athens. There were several historical footnotes to the win including a 21st consecutive year winning at least one tour-level event and moving within 1 of Roger Federer for 2nd all-time in titles. Djokovic’s 102nd is one off Federer and 7 behind Jimmy Connors’ record 109. The oldest player in the Top 100 also moved back into the Top 10 at No. 8(+3).

Djokovic, now 34-0 in Beijing, had to rally in the 2nd round to beat China’s Yunchaokete in three sets, and then stamped himself as a contender when he did the same in the quarters against top-seed Alexander Zverev. From there the weekend got weird. He was serving for the semifinal when Daniil Medvedev smashed a ball into the crowd that hit a fan, resulting in Djokovic winning by default. In the final against Alex de Minaur, both players took medical timeouts after Djokovic won the opening set in a tiebreak. After de Minair held to open the 2nd, he felt he could no longer continue and retired from the match. In the other semi, de Minaur was up a set when Hubert Hurcakz pulled the ripcord with an injury midway through the 2nd.

Djokovic is now 102-44 in career finals and 1-1 this year. He reached the Australian Open final in January which he lost to Carlos Alcaraz. de Minaur dropped to 11-11 lifetime and 1-2 in 2026. His ranking inched ahead to No. 9(+1).

Alcaraz captures Tokyo

Carlos Alcaraz took down the other ATP 500 event last week, winning Tokyo for the second year in a row. The road was not easy. It began with American Alex Michelsen who took the middle set. His next two opponents were Matteo Arnaldi and Denis Shapovalov. That set up a semifinal against fellow Spaniard Jaume Munar, and it was the qualifier Munar who took the opening set before Alcaraz right the ship and surrendered 4 games over the last 2. In the final, Alcaraz dispatched Jiri Lehecka, 7-6 (4), 6-4.

The title for Alcaraz was his 3rd of the season including the Australian Open, but his first since the wrist injury that cost him the French Open and Wimbledon. He is now 27-9 in career finals and 3-1 in 2026. His ranking held steady at No. 3(–).

Lehecka dropped to 2-6 in career finals, 0-2 this year. His other final in 2026 was a loss to Jannik Sinner at the Masters 1000 Miami event. With the performance in Tokyo, he stormed back into the Top 20 at No. 16(+7).

Sinner out for the year

Jannik Sinner has called time on his 2026 season, citing time needed to get his knee back up to par. The Italian had a remarkable start to the season, winning the first five Masters 1000 events plus Wimbledon. But he emerged from Wimbledon with a knee injury and has not played since. He will lose his No. 1 ranking by the end of the year but will likely still finish in the Top 5. Additionally, Sinner’s announcement means another spot is open at the Tour Championship in Turin for which he had already qualified. That means Novak Djokovic, currently sitting 9th on points, is in as of this week.

The Rankings

No. 1

Jannik Sinner remains the No. 1 player in the world. This is the 26th consecutive week and 92nd overall that Sinner is ranked No. 1. Sinner will lose his No. 1 ranking before the end of the year but that will not happen next week.

Top 10

Novak Djokovic returned to the Top 10 at No. 8(+3) following a three-week absence. Alex de Minaur moved up a spot to No. 9 and Frances Tiafoe slipped to No. 10(-2). Arthur Fils dropped out, landing at No. 11(-2) after making his Top 10 debut last week. Fils beat Tiafoe in an interesting match in Tokyo. Fils had to go through qualifying as a late entrant and drew Tiafoe in a rare battle of Top 10 players in the 2nd Round. Fils then lost his quarterfinal to Valentin Vacherot.

Top 20

Two players moved into the Top 20 this week. Aside from Lehecka at No. 16(+7), Francisco Cerundolo returned at No. 20(+2) after reaching the quarterfinals in Beijing. Exit papers were handed to Luciano Darderi who dropped to No. 21(-2) and Alexander Bublik to No. 22(-2).

Internally, Valentin Vacherot made the quarterfinals in Tokyo to move to No. 14(+4, career-high). Vacherot now heads to Shanghai where he shocked the world last year by winning the tournament. Anything but a repeat will likely see him fall out of the Top 20. Other movement on the week, all downward, was: Jakub Mensik to No. 15(-1)…Learner Tien to No. 17(-2)…Tommy Paul to No. 18(-2)…and Brandon Nakashima to No. 19(-2).

Teenagers

There are no teenagers ranked in the Top 100 this week. The highest-ranked teen is Italy’s Federico Cina at No. 147(+3, career-high).

Double Digit Risers and Newbies

Four players moved up 10 or more spots this week. The big mover was Jaume Munar who rode his Tokyo semifinal back into the Top 50 at No. 49(+15)…Also Kyrian Jacquet celebrated is first week as a Top 100 player by making the quarterfinals in Tokyo where he lost to Mubar. Jacquet was up to No. 76(+10, career-high), the second week in a row he has moved up double-digit spots…Alex Molan is up to No. 84(+12) after going from qualifying to the 2nd Round in Beijing…and Yunachaokete Bu returned to the Top 100 at No. 93(+11), also with a 2nd Round effort in Beijing. Bu was last in the Top 100 on September 22, 2025. No players other than Bu entered the Top 100 this week.

Double-Digit Droppers and Happy Trails

No players dropped double digit spots this week while remaining in the Top 100. The only player dropping out this week was Coleman Wong who slipped to No. 101(-1) following a one-week stay in the Top 100.

This Week and Beyond

The penultimate Masters 1000 of the season is underway in Shanghai. The 32 seeded players get byes including defending champion Valentin Vasserot. We will have a breakdown of who is left in the draw next week.