Carlos Alcaraz is set to eclipse Jannik Sinner’s record for weeks holding the world No 1 ranking as he heads into April, but his stay at the top of the ATP list may soon be coming to an end.
Alcaraz is set to spend a 65th week as world No 1 next week, which will see him draw level with Sinner, who has also been top of the rankings for that period of time.
Alcaraz will then move ahead of his rival prior to the clay court season getting underway in earnest at the Monte Carlo Masters and that is when the battle for top spot in the rankings could get interesting.
The Spaniard opened up a huge rankings lead over his big rival when he won the Australian Open for the first time in January, with his US Open win last September adding to a huge points haul that saw him move to 13,650 ranking points.
That gave him a lead of 3,350 points over Sinner, but the Italian has eaten into that lead dramatically over the last few weeks.
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Sinner was serving a doping suspension at this stage of last season, so he has no ranking points to defend until the Rome Masters in May and that has allowed him to carve holes in Alcaraz’s rankings lead.
Alcaraz lost early at the Miami Open, with his defeat against Sebastian Korda denying him a chance to create a points buffer in his battle with Sinner for the world No 1 ranking.
Sinner will move to within 1,240 points of Alcaraz if he wins the Miami Open and will then have a big chance to reclaim the world No 1 ranking if he can have a deep run at the Monte Carlo Masters or the Madrid Open.
He didn’t play in ether of those tournaments last year due to his doping suspension, so he will again be chasing fresh ranking points.
By contrast, Alcaraz will be defending 1,000 ranking points from his Monte Carlo win last April and by the time the ‘Big 2’ get to the revamped Madrid Masters at the end of next month, which will be played at Real Madrid’s Bernabeu Stadium for the first time, the world No 1 ranking could change hands.
“I know the situation where I am in regarding the points I am defending. I have zero,” said Sinner earlier this month. “Whatever comes in, it’s positive. Even if you lose next round, nothing happens. So that’s good for me.
“I try to go day by day. As I said before, the process for me is very important, being a good tennis player. I know the things I need to work on. Watching back also the last tournament, there are things that I can improve. We will do that hopefully, then we will see what we can achieve.
“I am aware of where I am point-wise and No. 1 and No. 2. That’s then a consequence of how I’m going to play. In any case, now until Rome, whatever comes is positive, so let’s see.”
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Some observers have suggested Sinner and Alcaraz have taken tennis to a new level over the last couple of years, but they have a long way to go to match the legends of the game in the rankings race.
Roger Federer completed a remarkable 237 consecutive weeks as world No 1 between February 2004 and August 2008, while Novak Djokovic has an incredible total of 428 weeks at the top of the rankings on his record.
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