Jannik Sinner has unlocked Wimbledon top seed feat – here’s how he can remain at No 1 after grass-court major
Jannik Sinner’s rise to No 1 in the ATP Rankings for the first time in his career has been confirmed and with it came the honour of being the top seed for a Grand Slam for the first time in his career.
On the back of his run to the semi-final at Roland Garros and Novak Djokovic’s withdrawal from the tournament, Sinner was assured of becoming the new world No 1 when the rankings were updated on Monday.
Alcaraz went on to win the French Open and with Djokovic dropping 1,600 points it meant there was a new-look top three after the clay-court Grand Slam with Sinner leading Alcaraz and Djokovic.
Top 3 In ATP Rankings After Roland Garros
1. Jannik Sinner – 9,525
2. Carlos Alcaraz – 8,580
3. Novak Djokovic 8,360
The grass-court season is now underway, but there are not too many points on offer before Wimbledon as the top players generally only feature in one event before Wimbledon starts in just under three weeks.
Sinner has a handy 945-point lead over Alcaraz and he is already assured of being the top seed at Wimbledon even if he fails to win a match between now and then.
The Italian only has 135 points to defend (45 from ‘s-Hertogenbosch and 90 from Halle) before the grass-court Grand Slam while Alcaraz is defending 500 points at Queen’s Club as he won the title last year.
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Djokovic, meanwhile, doesn’t have any points to defend, but he is out injured and his Wimbledon participation is up in the air after he underwent knee surgery.
So even if Alcaraz does go on to defend his Queen’s Club title, he won’t be able to make up the deficit even if Sinner fails to pick up any points between now and Wimbledon.
Sinner will thus start Wimbledon with a minimum points tally of 9,390 for a lead of 810 points (it could be 1,310 points if he wins Halle) so he will be the top seed at a Grand Slam for the first time in his career.
The Italian has 720 points to defend at SW19 while Alcaraz is the defending champion so he will drop 2,000 points. Djokovic finished runner-up last year and will drop 1,200 points.
The best Alcaraz can do over the next month is to remain on 8,580 points if he successfully defends Queen’s and Wimbledon, Djokovic has a ceiling of 9,160 points (drop 1,200 from last year and pick up 2,000 if he wins the title).
Once Sinner drops the 720 points from last year’s semi-final he will effectively be on 8,670 points (providing he doesn’t pick up any points in Halle) still ahead of Alcaraz’s 8,580 points.
It means he will likely have to reach the semi-final again to overturn the 490 points if Djokovic wins the title, but there are many ifs and buts as it remains to be seen if the 24-time Grand Slam winner will play at Wimbledon and he will then have to go all the way having not played competitive tennis for more than a month.
