As always, only two weeks of tournaments on the annual tennis calendar precede the Australian Open in 2026. That means there is only one week with which to work as players try to either secure a seed or improve their seeding for the season’s first Grand Slam.
Here is the top 32 in the ATP rankings heading into next year:
1. Carlos Alcaraz
2. Jannik Sinner
3. Alexander Zverev
4. Novak Djokovic
5. Felix Auger-Aliassime
6. Taylor Fritz
7. Alex de Minaur
8. Lorenzo Musetti
9. Ben Shelton
10. Jack Draper
11. Alexander Bublik
12. Casper Ruud
13. Daniil Medvedev
14. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
15. Holger Rune
16. Andrey Rublev
17. Jiri Lehecka
18. Karen Khachanov
19. Jakub Mensik
20. Tommy Paul
21. Francisco Cerundolo
22. Flavio Cobolli
23. Denis Shapovalov
24. Joao Fonseca
25. Tallon Griekspoor
26. Luciano Darderi
27. Cameron Norrie
28. Learner Tien
29. Arthur Rinderknech
30. Frances Tiafoe
31. Valentin Vacherot
32. Tomas Machac
Holger Rune obviously won’t be playing, having suffered a torn Achilles’ during the fall swing. That means No. 33 Brandon Nakashima is currently in position for a seed at Melbourne Park and No. 34 Stefanos Tsitsipas is the first man out.
Tsitsipas, Corentin Moutet, Jaume Munar, Ugo Humbert, and Alex Michelsen are all within 105 points of Nakashima and have a real shot at moving into a seeded spot with a decent opening week in 2026.
The other big race is for a top-eight seed. Positions five through nine in the current rankings are incredibly close, such that they all came down to Nitto ATP Finals results. Felix Auger-Aliassime, for example, climbed all the way from No. 8 to No. 5 simply by reaching the semis. Ben Shelton went winless in Turin and fell from No. 5 to No. 9. Shelton is only 70 points behind No. 8 Lorenzo Musetti, so the American will be eager to post a solid result in the first week of next year and move back into the top eight.
In the battle for a top-16 seed, Karen Khachanov is a mere five points back of Jiri Lehecka. No. 19 Jakub Mensik and No. 20 Tommy Paul would have to win a 250 title in order to break into the top 16 prior to the Australian Open draw ceremony.