Some of the biggest names in tennis will start their 2026 season under real pressure, with massive ranking points on offer in the opening month of the New Year.

There is a good chance we will see plenty of movement in the rankings on both the WTA and ATP Tours by the end of January, with some players who finished last season in worrying form needing a quick revival in fortunes to avoid a major ranking slide.

Here are our five players who are in danger of a rankings collapse heading into the new season.

Alexander Zverev

Current ranking: 3

Possible slide: -6

Zverev was widely tipped to get in the mix to win Grand Slam titles when the era of dominance for Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic came to an end, but he has been halted in that ambition.

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have leapt above him and halted Zverev’s ambition, with his defeat in last year’s Australian Open final against Sinner leaving a lasting mark on the German.

He told Tennis365 last year that he believed he was ready to win his first major in that final in Melbourne, with the scale of his defeat leaving him stunned.

He then went through a miserable second half of last season that saw his form and confidence collapse, but he needs to find his form quickly as he is defending 1,300 ranking points at this year’s Australian Open.

If he loses early in Melbourne this time, Zverev could find himself sliding down to around No 10 in the rankings by the end of this month.

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Madison Keys

Current ranking: 7

Possible slide: -9

Last year’s surprise Australian Open champion struggled to back up that long-awaited first major in Melbourne in the rest of 2025.

So the 2,000 points she picked up by winning the opening major of the year are propping up her ranking and keeping her inside the top 10.

Keys lost her way in the second half of last season and if she fails to go beyond the quarter-finals at the Australian Open, she will drop down to a ranking that may be below the top 16, depending on how other others perform.

Ben Shelton

Current ranking: 9

Possible slide: -2

Shelton reached the semi-finals of last year’s Australian Open, so he will have 800 ranking points dropping off his total when the 2026 edition of the tournament gets underway later this month.

Unlike Zverev, this big-hitting American should have high hopes of performing well in conditions that should suit his game in Melbourne.

He was a quarter-finalist in his breakthrough Australian Open three years ago and has much more maturity and experience under his belt now to deal with the pressure of this year’s tournament.

Paula Badosa

Current ranking: 25

Possible slide: -50

Badosa is in real danger of a big slide down the WTA Rankings as she is defending 800 ranking points following her run to the Australian Open semi-finals last year.

The Spanish star has been battling a succession of injury problems in recent years and has admitted she has come close to quitting the sport due to her physical battles.

Now she is hoping to find some form in 2026 and has posted images on her social media platform of some encouraging training sessions in recent weeks.

She will need to shine in Melbourne to ensure she has enough ranking points together into the top WTA Tour events for the rest of the season.

Jack Draper

Current ranking: 10

Possible slide: -10

The British No 1 was the stand-out player between March and May last season, but injury has always been his biggest rival and so it proved again.

He has not hit a ball in anger since the US Open, when he was forced to pull out with an arm injury that has yet to heal and forced him out of this month’s Australian Open.

All of Draper’s ranking points were gained in a first half of 2025 that saw him win the Indian Wells Masters and reach the final in Madrid, so he need to get back to fitness and form quickly or his ranking will fall off a cliff by the middle of this year.

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