TENNIS
Carlos Alcaraz returns to the top of ATP rankings
The Spanish player moved to number one in the rankings when he took to the court in Rome to face Albert Ramos.
Spanish tennis star Carlos Alcaraz returned to the top of the ATP rankings on Saturday when he took to the court for the Masters 1000 competition in Rome.
Regardless of how the 20-year-old performs against Albert Ramos he is guaranteed to pick up the required points to retake the number one spot.
Incumbent number one Novak Djokovic won the 2022 edition of this tournament so will not be able to increase his point tally in Rome, leaving him on a maximum of 6,775 points at the end of play. Ahead of the tournament Carlos Alcaraz was on 6,770 points, meaning that even a 10-point first round exit would be enough to give him the lead over the veteran Serbian.
So when Alcaraz took to the court on Saturday afternoon he effectively reinstated himself at the top of the sport’s global rankings. If he can progress deep in the tournament he may be able to open a lead at the top of the rankings.
How do ATP ranking points work?
The tennis ranking system is based on the points picked up at each tournament, which automatically expire after a year. This means that to maintain points won at any tournament it’s necessary to repeat the achievement from the previous year. This also means that a tennis player can win a tournament but not improve their ranking points if they are repeating what they did the year before.
So if a player wins a Grand Slam (2,000 points) and repeats the title the following year, their ranking points do not improve as the 2,000 picked up merely replace the 2,000 lost from the expiry of the previous year’s title.