It is clear that there are currently three players at the top of the men’s tennis pyramid. Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev, and Carlos Alcaraz clearly appear to be the three best players on the circuit. While Sinner and Alcaraz were previously considered to be ahead of the rest, Zverev’s triumphs at the French Open and US Open have changed the picture at the top. But while the three continue to flourish, former British ATP pro John Lloyd isn’t satisfied with the rest of the players in the top 10.

He claimed that the current top 10 on the ATP circuit is the weakest it has been in years. To support his statement, he argued that there are big gaps in the quality of the players, and these gaps can very well be exploited by players just outside the top 10.

“To be quite honest, there are gaps in the top 10 that any of the Americans coming through, or for anybody in that matter, they’ve got to be thinking there’s no reason why I can’t be there,” he said on the Inside-In Tennis podcast. “For me, I’ll be honest, I think the men’s top 10 now is one of the weakest it’s been in years.”

The likes of Ben Shelton, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Daniil Medvedev, Flavio Cobolli, Frances Tiafoe, Alex de Minaur, and Taylor Fritz are all currently part of the top 10. While it may look like a formidable bunch of players on paper, a fact that can’t be ignored is that only one of them has a Grand Slam title under their name.

Only four of the top 10 players are Grand Slam winners, highlighting the lack of competition in recent years. Notably, Sinner and Alcaraz were the only players to win majors from 2024 to the 2026 French Open, when Zverev finally broke their streak. The German then made it to his first-ever Wimbledon final, but Sinner got the better of him.

With Sinner out of the US Open due to injury, and Alcaraz coming back after a four-month injury layoff, Zverev found an opening again. After having a shaky start to the tournament and being involved in two consecutive five-setter matches, he didn’t lose a set in the next four games before defeating Shelton in four sets in the final.

While Zverev may have elevated his game this year, the same can’t be said about many other players in the top 10. Though the competition has been pretty intense in Masters events, the story has been very different at Grand Slams. There are many players with outstanding potential, but they are just not able to step up on the biggest stages.

Lloyd’s claim about this being the weakest top 10 bunch in years comes after a major development took place in the rankings earlier this week. One of the greatest eras in tennis may as well be coming to an end as Novak Djokovic is now not a part of the top 10.

Novak Djokovic has dropped out of the top 10 for the first time since 2018

As the ATP Rankings were updated earlier this week, Djokovic found himself at No. 12, down seven places. This is now the first time since 2002 that none of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Djokovic are part of the top 10.

The Serb lost so many places after he failed to win a single match in the US swing. He first suffered a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 defeat to Thiago Agustin Tirante at the Cincinnati Masters before Mariano Navone got the better of him in five sets in the first round of the US Open.

Djokovic now has 2,980 points in the rankings. He has been replaced by Frances Tiafoe in the top 10, who has 3,380 points. It is safe to say that the top 10 has been weakened with a player like Djokovic moving out of it for the first time in eight years. So, Lloyd’s statement doesn’t appear to be very vague after all.