Jannik Sinner is officially back at the top.
The Italian tennis star regained the top spot in the ATP rankings with a 7-6 (5), 6-3 victory over Carlos Alcaraz in the Monte Carlo Masters final on Sunday. This is the fourth time in the past two years that the top rankings have swapped hands between Sinner and Alcaraz, and no other player has come close to breaking the monopoly.
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Sinner has won four consecutive ATP 1000 Masters tournaments, tying Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. This one was perhaps a little more special for Sinner, as it occurred on a clay surface that he had struggled with.
“Being back in first place means a lot to me,” Sinner said after the match, via Sky Sports. “At the same time, the rankings are secondary. I’m very happy to win at least one big trophy on this surface. I’ve never won it before, so it means a lot to me.”
Alcaraz took a 2-0 lead early in the first set. However, Sinner broke his serve and took a shot right at the line, which Alcaraz couldn’t handle. Alcaraz attempted a drop shot but missed, allowing Sinner to tie the set. However, in the next game, his drop shot was successful and he took a 3-2 lead.
It looked like Alcaraz would win the first set, as he held serve and dominated Sinner with forehands, giving him a 6-5 advantage. However, Alcaraz’s mistake near the net gave Sinner a chance and he won the tiebreaker.
In the second set, Sinner broke Alcaraz in the third game and took control. After a long rally, Alcaraz hit a deep forehand into the net. In the fifth, Alcaraz missed his drop shot again and Sinner broke his serve.
With this win, Sinner improved his record against Alcaraz to seven wins out of 17 matches. He has won two straight against his rival, including a 7-6 (4), 7-5 victory at last year’s ATP Finals, and three of their past five meetings date back to Wimbledon.
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Sinner currently sits at 13,350 points in the rankings, with Alcaraz just behind him with 13,240 points. The next closest is Alexander Zverev in third place with 5,595 points.
Sinner reclaiming the No. 1 spot would also mean taking the lead in his rivalry with Alcaraz within weeks of his career. Both enter this week having each held the No. 1 spot in their 66th career week, and Sinner will have a healthy lead there.
After the Sunshine Double, it was inevitable that Jannik Sinner would be number one again
Last year, when Jannik Sinner tested positive for doping and was suspended for three months (which WADA confirmed was due to strange contamination involving a massage and a commercial spray), it did not prevent him from competing in a Grand Slam. However, it caused him to miss four different ATP 1000 tournaments and has negatively affected his rankings ever since.
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In 2025, Sinner failed to earn any ranking points at the Indian Wells Open, Miami Open, Monte Carlo Masters, or Madrid Open. This year, he has won 3,000 from these tournaments and Madrid is still playing.
He also made history in the process, becoming the first player in history to win the Sunshine Double in Indian Wells and Miami without dropping a set.
Alcaraz, on the other hand, had 1,410 points to defend in these competitions, but missed Madrid last year as well. So the moment Sinner scored 2,000 points with the Sunshine Double, it was hard to see him not doing well enough to earn the number one spot.
Alcaraz is well aware of this, admitting at the beginning of Monte Carlo: “We will lose the world number one. I don’t know if it will be this tournament or the next one.” The road doesn’t get much better for him for the rest of the clay season. Sinner only has 1,950 points, compared to 3,330 points left to defend at Barcelona, Rome and Roland Garros.
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Things will get interesting again when the rankings reach Wimbledon points, which Sinner won last year, but for now Sinner has the advantage.
