Novak Djokovic is outside the ATP top 10 for the first time in eight years. The rankings published on Monday 14 September moved the Serb from No. 5 to No. 12, seven places lost in a single week and the direct consequence of a first-round exit at the US Open.

The maths is blunt. A Grand Slam semi-final carries 800 ranking points and a first-round defeat carries 10. Djokovic reached the last four in New York in 2025, so when he lost his opening match this year the 800 came off and only 10 went back on. The net loss was 790.

That defeat, on 30 August, was one of the strangest nights of his career. Mariano Navone, an Argentine ranked outside the world's top 40, won 7-6(5), 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 on Arthur Ashe Stadium in four hours and 36 minutes, the longest opening match Djokovic has played at a major. He had never lost a first-round match at Flushing Meadows, and had not gone out of a Grand Slam at the first attempt since the 2006 Australian Open. Alexander Zverev went on to win the title.

The fall carried something larger with it. According to the Associated Press, it is the first time since October 2002 that none of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic appears in the men's top 10, closing a run of almost 24 years. Federer retired in 2022 and Nadal in 2024. Djokovic, the last of the three still playing, had been holding the line alone.

I've been very proud of all the achievements in the past, but now is now.

Novak Djokovic, after his first-round defeat in New York

The ranking is a poor guide to the season behind it. At the Australian Open, Djokovic beat Jannik Sinner over five sets in the semi-finals and became, at 38 years and 255 days, the oldest man to reach the final in Melbourne. Carlos Alcaraz beat him there in four sets on 1 February. He reached the Wimbledon semi-finals in July. Seven months separate a major final from No. 12.

What happened in New York was not only a defeat. Djokovic was sick during the match, appeared to cramp, and took a medical timeout before the fifth set, during which he was given tablets and had his lower back treated. He described the problem himself afterwards as something he had been carrying all season. "It's something that I've been carrying, unfortunately, pretty much every match this year," he said, "vomiting, throwing up, serious issue there. And then my whole body starts to collapse, basically, cramping and pain." Asked whether it could be fixed, he said: "I don't know. I'm trying, man. I'm trying. Let's see."

He has since confirmed on Instagram that he will play the China Open in Beijing, which runs from 28 September to 6 October. It is his first appearance at the tournament in 11 years. He has won it six times and has never lost a final there.

The next rankings are published on Monday.