Carlos Alcaraz faces pressure to protect No. 1 ranking at Australian Open

Opportunity will knock for Alcaraz in Melbourne, as he looks to get beyond the quarter-finals in the opening Grand Slam of the tennis year for the first time in his career.

He will need to get past his great rival Jannik Sinner to clinch the title in Melbourne, with the Italian in unbeatable form in this tournament over the last couple of years as he has swept to glory in convincing fashion.

A run to the final would allow Alcaraz to build his ranking points and that could be crucial in his battle to hold on to the No 1 ranking.

With Sinner hot on his heels, the Spaniard will be defending a win at the ATP 500 event in Rotterdam and then a run to the semi-finals of Indian Wells in March.

His Monte Carlo Masters win in April will see another 1,000 ranking points dropping off his record in April and another 1,000 points are part of his current total for his win at the Rome Masters last May.

That run of impressive results in 2025 means Alcaraz will need to produce a series of brilliant performances to maintain his current level of ranking points, with big doubts hovering over the French Open and US Open champion after he parted company with long-time coach Juan Carlos Ferrero earlier this month.

The big factor that could take the battle for the world No 1 spot out of Alcaraz's hands is Sinner will have a big chance to gain ground quickly on Alcaraz in the New Year after he missed three months of the season that has just finished due to his doping ban.

Sinner will be chasing fresh ranking points at the Indian Wells and Miami Masters in March and he will also have a chance to chase more points at the Monte-Carlo Masters.

As he missed all of those events in 2025 due to his suspension, Sinner could claim 3,000 ranking points in those three tournaments and he could also compete in ATP 500 events to bolster his ranking.

If Sinner shows anything like the form he served up this season, he can expect to claim plenty of ranking points from those events and that would allow him to comfortably overtake Alcaraz in the rankings in the opening months of the New Year.

Any dip in form from Alcaraz following Ferrero's exit from his camp will add to the uncertainty around the six-time Grand Slam champion as he prepares to kickstart the next phase of his career without the mentor who has been with him every step of the way so far.

READ MORE: Rafael Nadal cools Carlos Alcaraz coaching rumours