From Alcaraz to Sinner, passing by Musetti and Ruud: the tennis players who defend the most points on the clay court tour

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Goodbye hard court and hello clay. Starting this Monday, March 30th, the tour that many consider the best of the season begins. Over three months and a week, four ATP 250s, three ATP 500s, three Masters 1000s, and the prestigious Roland Garros will take place. However, many players will be risking a large portion of the points they earned last season during these weeks.

These are the players with the most points to defend on the clay court tour

As expected, Carlos Alcaraz will be the player with the most points to defend on this clay court tour. His titles in Monte Carlo, Rome, and Roland Garros, along with the final in Barcelona, earned him a total of 4,300 points in his best tour to date. This year, he will have to defend as many points as possible if he wants to arrive at the Parisian Grand Slam as the world number one. This challenge is compounded by the difficulty of playing a full tour with increasingly longer tournaments, more demanding matches, and growing physical discomfort. 

The second player with the most points to defend is not Jannik Sinner but his compatriot Lorenzo Musetti. Musetti showed great consistency during the clay court tour. He started with a final in Monte Carlo, followed by three consecutive semifinals in Madrid, Rome, and Roland Garros. In total, he will need to defend 2,250 points to maintain his position in the top 5 of the rankings.

Now we turn to Jannik Sinner. Despite missing more than half of the tour due to a suspension after testing positive for Clotesbol, the current world number two started in Rome and seemed unaffected by the three-month hiatus, reaching the final where he fell to Alcaraz. He then came close to winning Roland Garros, but it was the Spaniard who denied his wish in one of the most memorable Grand Slam finals in recent history. Nonetheless, Sinner will defend 1,950 points for just those two tournaments, but he will have the opportunity in Monte Carlo and Madrid to climb back to the top of the rankings.

In fourth place is a clay court specialist who finally clinched his first Masters 1000 title last year: Casper Ruud. The Norwegian won the Madrid title, earning him 1000 points, but the rest of his tour was quite inconsistent: a second-round exit in Monte Carlo, quarterfinals in Barcelona and Rome, and another second-round exit in Roland Garros due to injury added 500 more points, meaning he has to defend 1,500 points in 2026.

Alexander Zverev ranks fifth. Despite only winning the ATP 500 in Munich, reaching the quarterfinals in Roland Garros and Rome, as well as the third round in Madrid and second round in Hamburg, Zverev needs to defend 1,260 points.

Another standout from last year's clay court tour was Jack Draper. The Briton, whose weakest surface was clay, surprisingly achieved his best results on it. He started with a second-round exit in Monte Carlo but impressed with a final in Madrid and quarterfinals in Rome. His round of 16 at Roland Garros earned him a total of 1,150 points.

Last but not least, Novak Djokovic makes his mark. Despite early exits in Montecarlo and Madrid, falling in the first round in both, Djokovic secured the title at the ATP 250 in Geneva and demonstrated his resilience at Roland Garros, reaching the semifinals. Due to his performances in these two tournaments, the Serbian will have to defend 1,070 points.

All these players know what they need to work on in the coming months. However, the unpredictable nature of clay will also play a significant role in the outcome.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, De Alcaraz a Sinner, pasando por Musetti y Ruud: los tenistas que más puntos defienden en la gira de tierra batida