How Carlos Alcaraz can regain world No 1 ranking from Novak Djokovic this week

Shahida Jacobs 19 Jun 2023 12:35 PM

Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic in action

There was no change to the status quo at the top of the ATP Rankings the past week, but Carlos Alcaraz will have another shot at reclaiming the world No 1 spot from Novak Djokovic this week.

Although we are not yet halfway through the 2023 season, the world No 1 ranking has already changed hands five times this year compared to only four times for the entire 2022 campaign.

Alcaraz started the year at No 1 following his historic end to last year when he became the youngest player to finish the year as world No 1 at the age of 19.

However, he was dethroned in January by Djokovic when the Serbian won the Australian Open only for the youngster to return to No 1 seven weeks later following his Indian Wells Open title run.

Alcaraz’s second spell at No 1 lasted only two weeks before Djokovic reclaimed top spot at the beginning of April, but seven weeks later the Spaniard returned to No 1 and as a result was seeded top for Roland Garros.

Djokovic, though, went on to win the French Open – his 23rd Grand Slam in total – and the victory ensured he returned to the top of the ATP Rankings for a ninth spell.

On Monday he started his 389th week at No 1, but Alcaraz has an opportunity to return to No 1 as he will be in action at the Queen’s Club Championship this week as Djokovic is skipping the grass-court warm-up events.

ATP Rankings and points on offer at Queen’s Club

The seedings for Wimbledon will be determined at the completion of this week’s ATP Tour events and the player who sits at No 1 come next Monday will be the top seed for the grass-court major.

Djokovic started this week with 7,595 points and he has 420-point lead over Alcaraz as the 20-year-old is on 7,175 points.

So what is on offer in terms of points at the Queen’s Club Championships?

Only a title run will be good enough for Alcaraz if he is to return to No 1 as the winner receives 500 points, which will be good enough to help him to overcome that 420-point deficit. A runners-up finish at Queen’s won’t be enough as only 300 points are awarded to the finalist.

To complicate matters further for the Spaniard, the ATP 500 event boasts an incredible line-up as Holger Rune, Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Cameron Norrie and five-time champion Andy Murray are all in the field.

Alcaraz is also yet to master the art of playing on grass with his record at Wimbledon 4-2. Last year he lost in the fourth round while he reached the second round on his debut in 2021.

“The most difficult part is to move well on grass. You need to be more careful than other surfaces, so for me to move on grass is the most difficult,” he said.

“The most comfortable is going to the net and playing aggressively all the time. For me it is similar to other surfaces with my style. Playing that style is comfortable and I like it.

“There are a lot of players who slice on grass. I am not one of them, so I have to think about the movement. I have to be focused on every movement and shot.

“For me it is more tiring when you are moving on grass. It is totally different, so you have to be really specific.”