Felix Auger-Aliassime’s early exit from the 2025 French Open means he finds himself in a good position at this year’s tournament while Novak Djokovic could face a big drop if he fails to reach the business end.

Canadian Auger-Aliassime was stunned in the first round at Roland Garros last year as he was beaten in five sets by the unseeded Matteo Arnaldi, earning just 10 points for his efforts at the clay-court Grand Slam.

In case you didn’t know, the ATP uses a rolling 52-week, cumulative merit-based method system that includes a player’s best 18 results (19 if they play at the ATP Finals) to determine the rankings.

In layman’s terms, players earn points per round at each tournament they enter and 12 months later the points drop at the same event or the corresponding period, and they then have the chance to earn points again for the tournament progression.

Auger-Aliassime started the French Open at No 6 in the official ATP Rankings, but with No 4 Novak Djokovic and No 5 Ben Shelton dropping more points at the start of the tournament, he has moved up two spots to a new career high.

ATP Rankings At Start Of French Open

1. Jannik Sinner – 14,750
2. Carlos Alcaraz – 11,960
3. Alexander Zverev – 5,705
4. Novak Djokovic – 4,460
5. Ben Shelton – 4,070
6. Felix Auger-Aliassime – 4,050
7. Alex de Minaur – 3,855
8. Daniil Medvedev – 3,760
9. Taylor Fritz – 3,720
10. Alexander Bublik – 3,320

The Canadian – who starts his campaign in Paris on Tuesday against Daniel Altmaier – is only a handful of points ahead of Shelton and Alex de Minaur in the Live Rankings so he will need a deep run if he is to finish the tournament with a new career-high of fourth.

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He could also climb to No 3, but he will need to win the tournament and hope Alexander Zverev loses before the semi-final.

The biggest dropper in the top 10 so far is Djokovic with the 24-time Grand Slam winner slipping five spots to No 9 in the Live Rankings as he dropped 750 points from his semi-final appearance 12 months ago.

Djokovic has already won his opening match at Roland Garros and will face Valentin Royer in the second round and he could return to No 3 in the rankings if he wins the tournament, while another appearance in the last four or a runners-up finish could be good enough for fourth again if those ahead of him fail to reach the business end.

Live ATP Rankings (26 May)

1. Jannik Sinner – 13,460
2. Carlos Alcaraz – 9,960
3. Alexander Zverev – 5,355
4. Felix Auger-Aliassime – 4,050 (+2)
5. Ben Shelton – 3,920
6. Alex de Minaur – 3,855 (+1)
7. Daniil Medvedev – 3,760 (+1)
8. Taylor Fritz – 3,720 (+1)
9. Novak Djokovic – 3,710 (-5)
10. Alexander Bublik – 2,930

Although Taylor Fritz has moved up one place, he is set to drop again as he has already exited the tournament after losing in the first round.

Of course, the top two in the rankings will remain unchanged after the French Open as Jannik Sinner has a massive 3,500-point lead over Carlos Alcaraz with Zverev a distant third.

Alcaraz dropped 2,000 points as the defending champion and with a wrist injury ruling him out of the tournament, he will remain on 9,960, but Zverev has no chance of moving ahead of the Spaniard even if he wins the tournament as he is 4,605 points adrift.