What happens if Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz have the same amount of ranking points?

If No. 2-ranked Carlos Alcaraz wins the ATP 500 event in Rio de Janeiro this week, we’re going to have an interesting situation next week—he and No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic will both have 6,980 ranking points.

So what happens if two players have the same amount of ranking points, and which one of Djokovic and Alcaraz would be No. 1?

In this case, it would be Djokovic—and here’s why.

As per the ATP, when two players have the same total number of points, the first way to break the tie is to see which player has the most total points from the main draws of Grand Slams, ATP Finals and mandatory Masters 1000 events (so all of them except Monte Carlo).

For Djokovic, 5,820 of his 6,980 ranking points would be made up of those events:
~ 2,000 for winning 2023 Australian Open
~ 1,500 for winning 2022 ATP Finals
~ 1,000 for winning 2022 Rome
~ 600 for 2022 Paris F
~ 360 for 2022 Madrid SFs
~ 360 for 2022 Roland Garros QFs

For Alcaraz, 5,090 of his 6,980 ranking points would be made up of those events:
~ 2,000 for winning 2022 US Open
~ 1,000 for winning 2022 Miami
~ 1,000 for winning 2022 Madrid
~ 360 for 2022 Indian Wells SFs
~ 360 for 2022 Roland Garros QFs
~ 180 for 2022 Cincinnati QFs
~ 180 for 2022 Paris QFs
~ 10 for 2022 Canada 2nd Rd

If they had still been tied after that, there are two more ways to break the tie, first having to do with number of events played, and then highest number of points from one single tournament (more here).

And had there been ranking points at Wimbledon last year, Djokovic would be well clear of the rest of the field at this point (he would have earned 2,000 points there, while Alcaraz would have earned 180).

And so, Djokovic is guaranteed his 378th career week at No. 1 next week. He’s already well ahead of anyone else for the record for most weeks at No. 1 in ATP rankings history—Roger Federer has the next-most with 310. But he’ll surpass Steffi Graf for the most weeks at No. 1 in either ATP or WTA rankings history—Graf holds the women’s record with 377.

The plot will thicken next week, too, with Djokovic and Alcaraz both scheduled to play ATP 500 events—Djokovic Dubai, Alcaraz Acapulco.