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Carlos Alcaraz has addressed whether he could emulate Novak Djokovic’s longevity and also dismissed the suggestion that he has already reached the same level as the Big Three.

The world No 1 secured his maiden Australian Open title and seventh Grand Slam overall on Sunday as he defeated Djokovic in a four-set final.

At the age of 22, Alcaraz became the youngest male player in the Open Era to win each of the four majors, breaking the record previously held by his idol and legendary countryman Rafael Nadal.

There was a 16-year age gap between the two finalists on Rod Laver Arena, with Djokovic less than four months shy of his 39th birthday.

In an interview with Spanish newspaper Marca, Alcaraz was asked if he sees himself playing at Djokovic’s level when he reaches the age of 38.

“I’m not thinking about that,” said Alcaraz.

“I hope I can reach my age challenging a new generation of tennis players and playing in Grand Slam finals.”

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In addition to his Australian Open crown, Alcaraz has secured two titles at each of the other three majors: US Open (2022 and 2025), Wimbledon (2023 and 2024) and French Open (2024 and 2025).

Djokovic holds the all-time Grand Slam title record with 24, while Nadal and Roger Federer sit second and third on the men’s major list with 22 and 20 respectively.

Alcaraz was asked if he has already joined a group with Djokovic, Nadal and Federer given his remarkable achievements at such a young age.

“No, no, I’m not even close,” he replied.

“I’ll only be able to say I’m at the same level as them if I have a 20 or 22-year career and win the top titles season after season. That’s what I work for.

“I’m breaking some very nice records, but what these three achieved is practically impossible.

“You have to work to get as close as possible or even catch them. But to say I’m at the same level, there are many years ahead.”

The Murcian also spoke about the challenge of enjoying the moment in tennis.

“That’s the thing about tennis; there are tournaments week after week, and it’s very difficult to reflect on what you’ve accomplished,” Alcaraz said.

“The two weeks in Melbourne were very intense, full of emotions, and mentally demanding, and we’re going to try to recover as best as possible to keep competing.

“For now, I want to stop, go home, rest, and see how my body and mind respond in the coming days.”

READ NEXT: Carlos Alcaraz criticised for not mentioning Ferrero after Australian Open win by Toni Nadal

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Former world No 1 Kim Clijsters has given her reaction to Emma Raducanu’s split with Francisco Roig and highlighted the importance of the Brit forming a “longer coaching relationship.”

Raducanu parted ways with Roig at the end of January, having worked with the Spaniard — who is a former coach of Rafael Nadal — since August last year.

Following her second round defeat at the Australian Open — Raducanu spoke of a “misalignment” with how she was playing.

In a statement on her Instagram account, Raducanu wrote: “Francis, thank you for our time together.

“You have been more than a coach to me and I will cherish the many good times we spent together on the court.

“While we have come to the conclusion together that we ought not to move forward, please know that I am very grateful for all you have taught me and fond of our time shared.”

Raducanu, who is ranked 30th in the world, has now worked with eight different permanent coaches during her professional career.

Speaking on the Love All podcast, Clijsters questioned whether Raducanu is the one making the decisions about her coaching situation.

“To me, I’m curious when I hear those kind of headlines, who is making those decisions,” said the four-time Grand Slam winner. “Is she (Raducanu) doing it? Is it an agent? Is it a parent?

“There’s a lot of things that I’m curious in that situation about. Who is making these decisions for her? Who pushes the panic button so quickly?

“Because she’s had some really good coaches that she’s worked with in the past, and coaches that are like what I’ve mentioned earlier, who want to take their time, who know that it takes time to build and make changes to a technique and to a tactical gameplan. Like, it takes time to work on that.

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“To me, it’s almost like she’s like a soccer club, that’s like a soccer approach when they have a couple of bad games, like at the start of the season, just hired a new coach and then a few games in, they lose and then onto the next one.

“I think it might be good that she learns to push through and find somebody that she really has a good connection with and then work hard on, I think, building a longer coaching relationship and having the longer approach in her mindset, or whoever is making that decision.”

The Belgian added: “I think it takes time for a coach to be able to do their job, right? And that’s that kind of, finding that balance between giving it time to trust your coach, giving it time for the effects that a coach can have.

“Because a big red flag is when you have a coach that comes in and starts changing everything, that is just trying to put his footprint on a player and hoping that will give him recognition. I think those are big red flags.

“So I like that there’s coaches who kind of take their time and want to get to know their player, get to know how they think. Darren Cahill is very much like that.”

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The post Emma Raducanu told what she should do after latest coaching split by former world No 1 appeared first on Tennis365.

Former world No 5 Jimmy Arias has identified the “biggest edge” Elena Rybakina has over her rivals after the Kazakh’s triumph at the 2026 Australian Open.

Rybakina defeated world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in the Australian Open championship match to secure her second Grand Slam title after her 2022 Wimbledon victory. She was a runner-up to Sabalenka at the 2023 Australian Open.

The 26-year-old climbed two places to her career-best ranking position of world No 3 when the WTA Rankings updated this week, and she is just 378 points behind world No 2 Iga Swiatek.

The 12-time WTA Tour titlist is 3,380 points adrift of world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka, but she could challenge the Belarusian this year given she has far few points to defend — particularly at the remaining three majors.

Speaking on Tennis Channel, Arias broke down the advantage that Rybakina’s serve gives her.

“[The serve] is the biggest thing, the biggest edge that she has, because one of the things in the women’s game that is attacked is second serves. They are relentless; if you miss first serves, your second serve is gonna be crushed,” said the five-time ATP Tour title winner.

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“Her second serve is also better than most, and her first serve gets her all kinds of free points, so she’s gonna hold serve at a higher clip.

“She’s already starting every match with a little bit of an edge, and I think she’s starting to believe it now, and she’s starting to have that confidence and understand how good she is.”

Steve Johnson, a former world No 21, warned that Rybakina’s level is a “bad sign” for other players at the top of women’s tennis.

“Yeah, this is the best I think I’ve seen her play, and even that’s dating back to when she won Wimbledon a few years ago,” said the four-time ATP titlist.

“This has just been continued success for her. Week in, week out, she’s going out there beating the best players in the world, and it doesn’t faze her.

“And she looks like she’s getting more and more comfortable on that stage, which is a bad sign for the women at the top of the game, because she is here to stay, and I think there’s going to be a couple more big trophies in her future this season.”

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The post Elena Rybakina’s ‘biggest edge’ over Sabalenka, Swiatek and her other rivals revealed appeared first on Tennis365.

Tennis icon Jimmy Connors has questioned whether Aryna Sabalenka is lacking “killer instinct” after her defeat in the Australian Open final.

World No 1 Sabalenka narrowly fell 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to fifth seed Elena Rybakina in the women’s singles final at the Australian Open last Saturday, in a rematch of the 2023 final won by the Belarusian.

After dropping the opening set, Sabalenka broke to claim the second set, and a five-game streak saw her move to a 3-0 lead in the decider, only for Rybakina to win six of the final seven games and claim her second Grand Slam title.

Sabalenka has a comfortable lead at the top of the WTA Rankings and lifted the US Open title last September, but has now lost three of her last four Grand Slam finals.

The Belarusian was beaten in the 2025 Australian Open final by Madison Keys and the 2025 French Open final by Coco Gauff, with both matches narrow three-set losses for the 27-year-old.

Sabalenka held an impressive 3-1 record in Grand Slam finals before 2025 but now has a 4-4 record in such matches, while also losing to Amanda Anisimova in a three-set Wimbledon semi-final last summer.

Questions have been asked about the world No 1’s ability to get over the line in big matches, and eight-time Grand Slam singles champion Connors has now joined that conversation.

Speaking on his Advantage Connors podcast, the tennis great claimed that Sabalenka was “too good” to not be able to get over the finish line.

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He said: “Sabi, once again… I think she had 3-0 in the third, right? I might take a little ribbon for this, but I have to say it. You have to have that killer instinct.

“You got to, especially when you’ve got somebody in the finals like that, you got to get on top and you got to do everything you can to stay on top and keep the pressure on and cut down on your mistakes, and don’t give any points away and make your opponent earn everything.

“And I know she’s had bad luck in the past, losing a number of finals she maybe shouldn’t have. But up 3-0 in the third in a major like that… you got to close the deal. And she’s way too good a player to not be able to do that.

“She has in the past, don’t get me wrong. But to let a lead like that go — I want to see how she bounces back from that.

“She has in the past again, and she’s come through and won majors. But man, she’s got to get that killer instinct and when you have it, take it, grab it and get to the finish line.”

Sabalenka’s wait for a fifth Grand Slam singles title will now extend until at least May, when the French Open takes place in Paris.

The Belarusian’s loss to Gauff last summer was the first time she had reached the final at Roland Garros, having ended the reign of three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek in the semi-final.

After her Australian Open run, Sabalenka is currently set to return to action at the Qatar Open in Doha, the first WTA 1000 event of the season.

She is then set to compete at the Dubai Tennis Championships the following week, before the ‘Sunshine Double’ WTA 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami.

Sabalenka is a two-time runner-up in Indian Wells and lost to Mirra Andreeva in the 2025 final, though will enter the Miami Open as the reigning champion, having beaten Jessica Pegula in the final last year.

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The post Aryna Sabalenka’s ‘killer instinct’ questioned by tennis icon after Australian Open final defeat appeared first on Tennis365.

The second month of the 2026 ATP Tour season is underway, but how many points do Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic and other stars have to defend?

While there are no Grand Slams or Masters 1000 events in February, it is a month that features a host of ATP 500 and 250 tournaments.

After the Australian Open concluded on Sunday, the only ATP event taking place this week is the indoor hard-court ATP 250 in Montpellier. Felix Auger-Aliassime is the only top 10 player competing in Montpellier.

February ATP Tour schedule

• Montpellier (ATP 250) – February 2-8
• Dallas (ATP 500) – February 9-15
• Rotterdam (ATP 500) – February 9-15
• Buenos Aires (ATP 250) – February 9-15
• Doha (ATP 500) – February 16-22
• Rio (ATP 500) – February 16-22
• Delray Beach (ATP 250) – February 16-22
• Acapulco (ATP 500) – February 23-28
• Dubai (ATP 500) – February 23-March 1
• Santiago (ATP 250) – February 23-March 1

The ATP Rankings work on a rolling 52-week, cumulative system, which means that points drop from a player’s ranking a year after they earned them.

ATP Rankings Top 10 after 2026 Australian Open (February 2)

1. Carlos Alcaraz – 13,650
2. Jannik Sinner – 10,300
3. Novak Djokovic – 5,280
4. Alexander Zverev – 4,605
5. Lorenzo Musetti – 4,405
6. Alex de Minaur – 4,080
7. Taylor Fritz – 3,940
8. Felix Auger-Aliassime – 3,725
9. Ben Shelton – 3,600
10. Alexander Bublik – 3,285

How many points are the top 10 defending in February?

Carlos Alcaraz – 600 points

Carlos Alcaraz will drop the 500 points he earned for winning the Rotterdam Open in 2025 as he has chosen not to defend his title at this year’s event.

The world No 1 will then defend the 100 points he collected for reaching the Qatar Open quarter-finals last year.

Jannik Sinner – 0 points

Jannik Sinner is not defending any ranking points in February as he did not play any tournaments during this period of last year due to his suspension for failing doping tests, which spanned from February 9 to May 4.

Novak Djokovic – 0 points

Novak Djokovic will not drop any points this month as he did not collect any points for his opening round loss in Doha last year, which was his only appearance in February.

Alexander Zverev – 100 points

Alexander Zverev is defending the 100 points he earned for reaching the quarter-finals at the 2025 Rio Open.

The world No 4 also earned 50 points in Buenos Aires last year, but these have not been counted towards his ranking.

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Lorenzo Musetti – 0 points

Lorenzo Musetti is not defending any points this month as the 50 points he secured for reaching the Buenos Aires quarter-finals last year are not counted towards his ranking.

Taylor Fritz – 50 points

Taylor Fritz will defend the 50 points he earned for his quarter-final result in Delray Beach, while his 50 points for making the last 16 in Dallas are not counted towards his ranking.

Alex de Minaur – 430 points

Alex de Minaur earned 330 points for his runner-up result at the 2025 Rotterdam Open and 100 points for his quarter-final run in Doha.

Felix Auger-Aliassime – 200 points

Felix Auger-Aliassime has already dropped the 250 points he earned last year in Montpellier, where he is trying to defend his title this week.

The world No 8 will then defend the 200 points he secured for his semi-final result at the Qatar Open.

Ben Shelton – 50 points

Ben Shelton earned 50 points in February last year for reaching the last 16 at the Dallas Open.

Alexander Bublik – 0 points

Alexander Bublik is not defending any points this month as the 25 points he earned in Marseille last year are not counted towards his ranking, while he exited in the opening round in Rotterdam and Doha.

READ NEXT: Rotterdam Open entry list, prize money, ranking points, key dates: Zverev & Draper to star in Alcaraz’s absence

The post ATP Rankings: How many points will Alcaraz, Sinner, Djokovic, Zverev drop in February? appeared first on Tennis365.

Leading injury prevention and athlete welfare expert Stephen Smith has praised Jack Draper for his “measured” and “meticulous” approach to his recovery from injury ahead of his long-awaited comeback.

Draper has not played since he withdrew from his second round match at the 2025 US Open in August due to a bruised humerus – the bone that runs from the shoulder to the elbow – in his left arm. He revealed that he had been suffering with the injury since the clay-court season and that it had gotten “progressively worse.”

The world No 13, who reached his career-high ranking of world No 4 in June last year, is set to make his return to action in Great Britain’s Davis Cup Qualifiers tie against Norway in Oslo later this week.

“It’s been a long time since I was able to compete,” Draper told the ITF at the LTA’s National Tennis Centre. “But I’ve stayed in a good place, even though it’s been tricky – lots of dark moments, lots of tough times – but that’s the sport I signed up for.

“I’m always learning, always growing and happy to be back playing again.”

Draper was initially due to make his comeback at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown exhibition event in London in December, but he pulled out.

The 24-year-old then chose to postpone his return to competition further by withdrawing from the United Cup and the Australian Open.

In an exclusive interview with Tennis365, Smith backed Draper’s decision not to compete at the year’s first Grand Slam.

“Jack Draper pulling out of the Australian Open, I think it’s really smart decision-making for him,” Smith assessed.

“Some of his commentary was that, going into the number of matches at the intensity level that would be required at the Australian Open just wouldn’t be the smartest thing for him and his team to do.”

Asked if the length of Draper’s absence and the delays to his comeback are concerning, Smith took the opposing view.

“No, I think everything that you’re hearing from him and from his camp is that they understand the gravity of the issue, hence that’s why he wasn’t involved in the Australian Open,” he said.

“They’re suggesting that they’re looking at a much more gradual return to performance for him.

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“To me, from everything I’ve heard, they’ve never been unsure about what they’re doing, they’ve been very confident in their decision-making, they’ve been very measured in their decision-making.

“I would take a lot of confidence from that because it sounds like they had a very meticulous and detailed plan, and regardless of how important the Australian Open is, they weren’t willing to risk it because they understand the pros and cons of that.

“So I would look at that (the lengthy period taken for Draper to return) from the complete opposite lens.”

Smith went on to address whether Draper will need to manage his schedule throughout 2026 to minimise the risk of a recurrence of the injury.

“Yeah, I would expect that they’re probably going to manage him throughout the year and make sure that they’re going to be assessing him after every competition and between games, and ensuring that he’s not having any negative response,” Smith said.

“I think they’ll be adjusting his plan based off how his body is responding, which is exactly what you would expect them to do from a best practice perspective.”

READ NEXT: Rotterdam Open entry list, prize money, ranking points, key dates: Zverev & Draper to star in Alcaraz’s absence

The post Jack Draper skipping Australian Open was ‘smart decision’ – leading injury expert ahead of Brit’s comeback appeared first on Tennis365.

The Qatar Open will be the first WTA 1000 event of the season, but several big-name players will be absent from the tournament.

The Middle East swing kicked off with this week’s Abu Dhabi Open, but the biggest names on the WTA Tour have skipped the event as they opted to take a longer break after the Australian Open with world No 9 Belinda Bencic the highest-ranked player in the main draw.

Instead, most stars will return to action in Doha – which runs from February 8-12 at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex – although a few players have already pulled out.

Former world No 1 and four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka won’t feature as she remains sidelined with the injury that forced her to withdraw from the Australian Open.

At the time, Osaka didn’t reveal much about the injury only stating “I’ve had to make the difficult decision to withdraw to address something my body needs attention for after my last match”.

But organisers of the Abu Dhabi event have revealed she withdrew due to an abdominal injury.

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Fellow major champion Madison Keys is also out, but no reason was given for the 2025 Australian Open champion’s decision to pull out of the WTA 1000 tournament.

Keys’ withdrawal comes on the back of her fourth-round exit at Melbourne Park when she was beaten by fellow American Jessica Pegula.

And Pegula, who was due to be seeded sixth, is another player who won’t play in Abu Dhabi with the 31-year-old likely skipping the event to take an extended breather after reachign the semi-final in Australia.

American teenager Iva Jovic was one of the stars of the hard-court Grand Slam as the 18-year-old stunned seventh seed Jasmine Paolini en route to the quarter-final before losing against Aryna Sabalenka.

She has surged to No 20 in the WTA Rankings, but she won’t play in Doha along with Marta Kostyuk, who sustained a serious ankle injury during her first-round loss in Melbourne, and Eva Lys.

Katerina Siniakova, Laura Siegemund, Marie Bouzkova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Wang Xinyu and Daria Kasatkina have all earned direct entries into the main draw on the back of the withdrawals.

Amanda Anisimova is the defending champion and she is set to be seeded fourth for her title defence with world No 1 Sabalenka the top seed and Iga Swiatek, Australian Open champion and Coco Gauff completing the top five.

Sabalenka (2020) and Swiatek (2022, 2023, 2024) are the only other former champions in the draw.

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Alex Eala started her campaign at the 2026 Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open with a straight sets victory, and her second round opponent has been revealed.

The world No 45 defeated Zeynep Sonmez, a 23-year-old Turk ranked 79th, 6-4, 6-3 in the opening round of the WTA 500 tournament on Monday.

The 20-year-old Filipina is competing as a wildcard in Abu Dhabi, where she is making her second appearance after her debut in 2024.

Eala will take on Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the second round in the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday.

Who is Aliaksandra Sasnovich?

Aliaksandra Sasnovich was born in Minsk, Belarus on 22 March, 1994, and she comes from a family with a sporting tradition.

Her mother Natalia was a basketball player, while her father Aliaksandr played hockey and tennis for 20 years on the senior circuit. She was introduced to tennis by her father and began playing at the age of nine.

According to Sasnovich’s bio on her WTA profile, her favourite surface is indoor hard-court, her favourite shot is her backhand down the line, and her favourite tournaments are the US Open and Stuttgart.

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Aliaksandra Sasnovich’s career

Sasnovich holds a 174-178 (49.4%) record in main draw WTA Tour level matches, while she holds a 124-61 (67%) record at ITF level.

The 31-year-old has not won a WTA Tour title, but she is a five-time runner-up on the main tour, having lost one WTA 500 final (Brisbane in 2018) and four WTA 250 finals (Korea in 2015, Melbourne and Cleveland in 2022, Budapest in 2024).

The Belarusian was also a finalist at a Challenger event in Limoges in 2019, while she won 11 ITF Circuit titles between 2011 and 2014.

Sasnovich’s joint-best Grand Slam results are reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2018 and the French Open in 2022.

She has recorded six wins against opponents ranked in the top 10: Karoline Pliskova in Tokyo (2016), Petra Kvitova at Wimbledon (2018), Kiki Bertens in Moscow (2018), Elina Svitolina in Brisbane (2019), Daria Kasatkina in Sydney (2019), and Serena Williams at Wimbledon via retirement (2021).

Currently ranked 109th, Sasnovich reached her career-high ranking position of world No 29 in September 2022.

Aliaksandra Sasnovich’s Abu Dhabi campaign

Sasnovich entered the main draw in Abu Dhabi as a lucky loser after she lost to Sonay Kartal in the final round of qualifying, having beaten Priscilla Hon in the first qualifying round.

In the opening round of the main draw, Sasnovich upset No 8 seed and former world No 2 Paula Badosa 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.

Have Alex Eala and Aliaksandra Sasnovich played before?

This will be the first-ever meeting between Eala and Sasnovich.

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The post Who is Alex Eala’s next opponent at Abu Dhabi Open? Belarusian who upset Paula Badosa appeared first on Tennis365.

Emma Raducanu has been the subject of much attention in recent weeks, but she let her tennis do the talking in a comprehensive opening win at the Transylvania Open on Monday.

World No 30 Raducanu was in strong form during a 6-0, 6-4 win over Greet Minnen in the opening round of the WTA 250 event, returning to winning ways after her disappointing second-round exit at the Australian Open.

It was also her first win since her coaching split from Francisco Roig, and the 23-year-old will now look to continue her run when she faces world No 97 Kaja Juvan in the second round.

Who is Kaja Juvan?

Though she is currently 97th in the WTA Rankings, Juvan has a career-high of world No 58, achieved back in June 2022.

That came shortly after the Slovenian reached the sole WTA Tour final of her career, falling in three sets to former world No 1 Angelique Kerber at the 2022 Strasbourg International.

Juvan also reached the third round of the Australian Open in 2021, of Wimbledon in 2021 and 2022, and of the US Open in 2023 — while twice reaching the second round of Roland Garros.

Long-recognised as a promising junior, the Slovenian won girls’ singles gold at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, and won the girls’ doubles event alongside close friend Iga Swiatek.

However, despite some promising Grand Slam displays during her career, Juvan’s senior career has been affected by two major setbacks.

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In 2023, the 25-year-old took two months off tour following the death of her father, Robert, who sadly passed away from cancer at the end of 2022.

Then, she missed almost the entirety of the 2024 season after being diagnosed with a functional neurological disorder, and had to rebuild her ranking — and career — when she returned to action.

Juvan finished 2024 ranked 599th in the world and returned to action at the Austin Open in March 2025, slowly but surely climbing back up the rankings across the season.

She finished as the runner-up to Naomi Osaka at the WTA 125 Saint-Malo in May 2025, and then beat Simona Waltert to win her first WTA 125 Challenger title in Ljubljana in September.

That was then followed by a second WTA 125 title in Samsun in October, with Juvan beating rising star Nikola Bartunkova in the final.

The 25-year-old also lifted the ITF Internazionali di Brescia in May 2025 and successfully qualified for Wimbledon in June, also competing in French Open and US Open qualifying during the summer.

2026 form

Ranked just outside the top 100 at the start of 2026, Juvan has played three tournaments this year.

The Slovenian was beaten in the opening round of the Hobart International by Caty McNally, and then fell to eventual champion and fifth seed Elena Rybakina in the opening round of the Australian Open.

However, the world No 97 returned to winning ways in her opening match in Cluj, defeating Romanian wildcard Elena Ruxandra Bertea 6-3, 6-4 to book a meeting with Raducanu.

When is Raducanu vs Juvan?

This will be the first career meeting between Raducanu and Juvan, and the winner will face either qualifier Maja Chwalinska or seventh seed Olga Danilovic in the quarter-final.

An official time and schedule for the match is not yet confirmed, though the pair will take to the court at the indoor WTA 250 event at some point on Wednesday.

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Carlos Alcaraz left the Australian Open having made history with a historic triumph, while Jannik Sinner’s run at the tournament was snapped in sensational style.

Alcaraz’s victory in Melbourne made him the youngest man in the Open Era to complete the Career Grand Slam and saw the 22-year-old lift a seventh Grand Slam singles title overall, beating Novak Djokovic in four sets in the final.

In contrast, Sinner’s title defence was ended by Djokovic in a thrilling five-set semi-final, with the Italian’s 19-match win streak at the Australian Open coming to a stunning end.

However, results in Melbourne tee up a fascinating battle for the world No 1 ranking between Alcaraz and Sinner in the coming three months — with the Italian handed a potential opportunity to return to the top.

As it stands

This week’s ATP Rankings update has seen things swing firmly in the favour of Alcaraz, following his Australian Open triumph on Sunday.

Victory in Melbourne saw Alcaraz boost his ranking points tally by 1,600 points, with the 2,000 points from his triumph replacing the 400 quarter-final points he earned in 2025.

In contrast, Sinner’s 800 ranking points for reaching the semi-final replaced the 2,000 points he won for his Australian Open victory last January, meaning he has effectively dropped 1,200 points.

Alcaraz now has a staggering 13,650 points in the ATP Rankings, with Sinner behind on 10,300 points after action in Melbourne.

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What happens next?

The next few months promise to be fascinating in the battle for the world No 1 ranking, with Sinner having no points to defend.

The Italian was suspended for three months after the 2025 Australian Open due to his high-profile doping violation, and, after winning the title in Melbourne, was not allowed to compete until the Italian Open in May.

That means that Sinner can only gain ranking points until May 2026, handing him the opportunity to close the gap to Alcaraz.

We now know the gap will close shortly following Alcaraz’s withdrawal from the Rotterdam Open, which takes place next week.

Alcaraz had 500 points to defend as the reigning champion at the tournament, and his absence means he will drop to 13,150 points on Monday, February 16.

However, the Spaniard will still have a 2,850-point lead at that stage.

Will Alcaraz hold on or can Sinner reclaim No 1?

No Grand Slam tournaments are held in the three-month period where Sinner has no points to defend, but there are plenty of ranking points at stake.

Most notably, four Masters 1000 events — Indian Wells, the Miami Open, the Monte Carlo Masters, and the Madrid Open — will all take place in that period, with 4,000 points on offer across the four events.

Before Indian Wells, both men will also be in action at the ATP 500 Qatar Open from February 16-21, where Alcaraz has 100 points to defend as a quarter-finalist last year.

The Spaniard also has 330 ranking points to defend from his Barcelona Open runner-up finish in April 2025, with the world No 1 confirmed to be in action at the event once again this year.

The next three months offer Sinner a clean slate for points, with the Italian likely to compete in Doha and the first four Masters 1000 events of the season before he then has points to defend in Rome in May.

However, Alcaraz has comparatively fewer points to defend over the next three months than he does at other stages of the season.

The Spaniard has 1,000 points to defend as the reigning Monte Carlo Masters champion, though he has just 400 points to defend from Indian Wells after his semi-final defeat last March.

He then has just 10 points to defend at the Miami Open, following a shock round-two exit in 2025, while he has no Madrid Open points to defend — withdrawing from his home Masters event last April.

From now until the very start of the Italian Open in May, Alcaraz has just 2,340 points to defend across all levels.

500 of those ranking points will drop off his ranking from Rotterdam, but several key events — most notably the Masters events in Indian Wells, Miami, and Madrid — also give him a notable opportunity to improve on his ranking points tally.

It would be easy to assume that the next three months solely offer Sinner an opportunity in the ATP Rankings, but there is no denying Alcaraz can benefit after, by his own high standards, a challenging spell this time twelve months ago.

The big swing against Alcaraz could come across the Italian Open and Roland Garros, where he has a total of 3,000 points to defend as the reigning champion at both events.

In contrast, Sinner has 1,950 points to defend as the runner-up at both tournaments.

The Italian certainly has the opportunity to close the gap before then, though Alcaraz still has a very strong chance of remaining world No 1 into the early summer.

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