Which tennis players need to defend the most points at the end of the 2026 season?

Carlos Navarro - 18 Sep 2026 | 18:46
Jannik Sinner Valentin Vacherot ATP ATP Finals 2026 Felix Auger Aliassime Carlos Alcaraz

We review those names in trouble for all the points they defend from now until the conclusion of 2026... and those that can add up in a scandalous way.

Go to comments section Preferir Puntodebreak en Google
This is what Jannik Sinner is defending until the end of the year.

Taking a look at the ATP rankings means finding Jannik Sinner at the top with some clarity. He surpasses Alexander Zverev, the recent US Open champion, by almost 2000 points, a considerable gap, especially considering that there are no Grand Slams left to be played this year. However, in the Race, it is the German who leads and, moreover, he holds a 700-point advantage over Jannik… and this is due, of course, to the massive amount of points that the player from San Candido must defend upon his return to the circuit.

The Italian faces a challenging outlook, competing for almost five consecutive weeks to regain confidence in his racket following his recent injury… and to stay ahead of Sascha in a fight that forces him to win almost everything. The reason? He is the player in the circuit defending the most points until the end of 2026, with an impressive total of 3550 points. Remember: champion of the ATP Finals, Paris, Vienna, and Beijing, the transalpine has room to gain points only in one tournament: Shanghai, where he withdrew against Griekspoor in the third round due to injury. Aside from that tournament, he will face a more demanding road ahead.

Estos son los puntos que defiende Sinner de aquí a final de año.

These are the players who defend the most points here at the end of the season

It was precisely at the Chinese tournament that a name emerged, now facing the hidden side of his success in 2025. It is Valentin Vacherot, a surprise champion in Asian lands, which caused a rise in his ranking that, with almost no points to defend at the beginning of the year, has kept him in the elite of the circuit for a long time. Adding to this are his quarterfinals reached in Paris, the Monegasque, while not yet a top-15 name, is none other than the fourth player defending the most points, with 1220 units: if he loses in the first round of Shanghai, he would drop beyond the top-40 (currently he occupies the #19 in the world).

Ahead of him, completing the podium of players defending the most points, are two tennis players in different situations. Carlos Alcaraz is third, with 1510 units corresponding to his title in Tokyo and his final appearance in the ATP Finals; despite this, the outlook is promising for Carlitos, with places like Shanghai or Paris to accumulate points and the goal of enjoying tennis again without pursuers or clear threats in ranking (he is far from Sinner in the Race but maintains a different distance over the rest to keep the third spot).

Who does need points to maintain his position in the top-10 is Felix Auger-Aliassime. The Canadian is the second player defending the most points, a total of 1515 points as a result of an immaculate end to 2025 in which he became champion in Brussels, a finalist in Paris, a semifinalist in the ATP Finals, and a quarterfinalist in Shanghai and Basel. His indoor consistency now leaves him facing an interesting yet very demanding challenge: in the ATP ranking, he is still #5 in the world, but in the Race, he is #12, an unmistakable sign of all the points he has to defend.

In the top-10, there are other names that are fighting for a good portion of the pie, but they perhaps offer greater security in terms of obtaining points or may not suffer too large jumps in the ranking: Alexander Zverev (1040), Daniil Medvedev (990), or Alex de Miñaur (watch out for the Australian: if he doesn't qualify for the ATP Finals, he is indeed at risk of certain units, defending 920) complete the top-7, while Lorenzo Musetti, Arthur Rinderknech, and Learner Tien sneak into the final spots at the top. Who will defend successfully? We will see soon.

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, ¿Qué tenistas deben defender más puntos en el final de temporada 2026?