Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz bracing for rankings showdown at Monte Carlo Masters

Sinner's dominant run through the Sunshine Double has significantly closed the gap to Alcaraz at the top of the rankings. The Italian now trails by 1,190 points heading into Monaco but has the opportunity to make up that deficit in a single tournament.

Having been banned for doping last year, Sinner did not collect any of the 1,000 ranking points available from the event in 2025, meaning every round he advances this year adds directly to his total.

Alcaraz, by contrast, is defending the title he won last year and the full 1,000 points that came with it, leaving him unable to gain further ground and at risk of dropping points as the tournament progresses.

If Sinner reaches the semi-finals, he will give himself a chance of claiming the No 1 ranking. A place in the final would put the pressure squarely on Alcaraz, who would then need to win the tournament to retain top spot - setting up the possibility of a decisive meeting between the two.

Alcaraz is set to begin his 66th week as world No 1 next week, matching the total time Sinner has spent at the summit.

Despite the potential shift at the top, Alcaraz's coach, Samuel Lopez, has played down the rankings battle as a primary focus.

"Let's see, in principle we're going with the idea of playing everything, of playing the whole swing, you know," revealed Lopez during an interview with Eurosport ES.

"Monte Carlo â- if things had gone well, if things had gone better in Miami â- we would probably have skipped it.

"But in this case, well, Monte Carlo is going to be more of a preparation tournament.

"The thing is, you already know that sometimes those preparation tournaments⦠you get up to speed very quickly. But for us, Monte Carlo is more like last year.

"What happens is that last year things worked out and in the end it was won, but in the end going to the first clay tournament and winning it, well, for almost everyone it's the first clay tournament, so almost everyone is in the same conditions.

"The idea is to try to manage it and arrive as well as possible at Roland Garros, at 100%. We'll see what happens along the way."

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