The No 1 spot in the ATP Rankings changed hands for the first time in five months after the Monte Carlo Masters with Jannik Sinner overtaking Carlos Alcaraz, but his stay could be short-lived.
Alcaraz spent 22 consecutive weeks at No 1 as he replaced his Italian rival at the top on 10 November to take his overall tally to 66, but Sinner’s title run in the Principality has seen him usurp the Spaniard.
The four-time Grand Slam winner didn’t have any points to defend at the clay-court ATP 1000 title while Alcaraz was the defending champion so there was a big points swing after the tournament.
In the updated ATP Rankings, Sinner sits on 13,350 points with the seven-time Grand Slam winner on 13,240 ahead of the Barcelona Open.
“I’m pleased, but I won’t change what I said: Carlos and I are very close, and that can change from one week to the next,” Sinner said during his post-Monte Carlo Masters press conference.
“I’d be lying if I said I’m not happy, but honestly, the most important thing is to prepare well for the next tournaments, have the right mindset, and do the right things.
“And then, as we move forward, there will be the Slams: Paris and London remain the goals. We’ll see about the ranking after those tournaments.”
What’s To Come After Monte Carlo…
Sinner is right, the top spot could change again next week as Alcaraz will be in action in Spain while the Italian won’t feature on the ATP Tour.
Alcaraz finished runner-up at ATP 500 tournament last year so he will drop 330 points, while Sinner doesn’t have any points to defend this week as he was still serving his three-month ban 12 months ago.
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That puts Alcaraz on 12,910 with the lead growing to 440 points, but that means there is only one way the Spaniard can return to the top of the ATP Rankings next Monday and that is by winning the Barcelona Open as that is worth 500 points.
The battle will then move to the Madrid Open and Alcaraz could start the tournament at No 1 or with a big deficit if he loses early in Barcelona.
But Alcaraz certainly faces a battle in the longer term to remain top of the rankings as he has another 1,000 points to defend at the Italian Open while Sinner will drop 650 points
At Roland Garros the Spaniard will defend 2,000 points following his five-set win over his rival last year and Sinner will drop 1,300 points.
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