Jannik Sinner unofficially the new No 2 in the ATP Rankings – here is how he can stay ahead of Carlos Alcaraz
Jannik Sinner currently finds himself at No 2 in the ATP Live Rankings so what does he need to do at the Indian Wells Open to stay ahead of Carlos Alcaraz when the rankings are updated after the tournament?
Australian Open champion Sinner is in the form of his life as he is unbeaten in 2024 having won his 12 matches so far this campaign while he has lost only two of his last 34 encounters in top-level tennis – one against Ben Shelton in Shanghai in October and against Novak Djokovic in the final of the ATP Finals in November.
The Italian started the year fourth in the ATP Rankings behind Novak Djokovic, Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev with 6,490 points to his name, but he is up to third in the official list with 8,270 points after winning the Australian Open and Rotterdam Open.
But there is good news for the 22-year-old ahead of the Indian Wells Open as he has already moved up to second place with the points from 2023 dropping off.
LIVE RANKINGS
1. Novak Djokovic 9,685 points
2. Jannik Sinner 7,920
3. Carlos Alcaraz 7,815
4. Daniil Medvedev 7,125
With Alcaraz the defending champion at the Tennis Garden, he drops 1,000 points while Sinner only reached the semi-final in 2023 so he only drops 360 points.
Djokovic is well clear and will stay at No 1 irrespective of his result at Indian Wells as he didn’t play last year while Medvedev drops 590 points after finishing runner-up in 2023.
That leaves Sinner, Alcaraz and Medvedev battling it out for second place.
THE OFFICIAL ATP RANKINGS
HOW SINNER CAN STAY AHEAD OF ALCARAZ
The equation is pretty straightforward for Sinner as he only needs to outperform Alcaraz at the ATP Masters 1000 event to officially climb to a new career-high of No 2.
A lot easier said than done though.
And to add fuel to the fire, Alcaraz and Sinner are projected to meet in the semi-final of the Indian Wells Open so it could be a straight shootout for the No 2 ranking.
Twot-time Grand Slam winner Alcaraz also seems to have a slightly trickier path as he could face Alexander Zverev or Alex de Minaur in the quarter-final while Sinner will meet either Andrey Rublev or Stefanos Tsitsipas in the last eight.
The Spaniard has also struggled with injury as he rolled his ankle at the Rio Open while he is yet to find his best form in 2024 as he was beaten by Zverev in the quarter-final of the Australian Open and lost in the semi-final of the Argentina Open.
Medvedev, who could meet Djokovic in the semi-final, can only return to No 2 if he wins the title and even then he would need both Alcaraz and Sinner to lose early.
