Tennis

Carlos Alcaraz skips Madrid, Jannik Sinner will be number 1 for a year

Carlos Alcaraz's injury forced him to miss the Madrid tournament, allowing Jannik Sinner to keep the top ranking for a whole year.

24 April 2025

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Jannik Sinner durante l’edizione 2024 del Roland Garros (Bertrand Guat/Afp)

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Key points

In Rome, Jannik is sure to be seed number 1
Zverev-Alcaraz. is challenging for the No. 2 ranking

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The news was in the air but now it is official: Carlos Alcaraz will not participate in the Madrid Masters 1000.

The Spaniard was stopped by an adductor injury in recent days.

"I have to listen to my body, even though the Madrid tournament is very important for me. I decided not to take any risks, even though it is a difficult decision,' the Spaniard said.

The absence of Carlos Alcaraz in Madrid makes Jannik Sinner certain to remain world number 1 until the conclusion of Roland Garros, i.e. for 52 weeks, from 10 June 2024 to 9 June 2025.

In Rome, Jannik is sure to be the number 1 seed

In Rome, Jannik will certainly be the number 1 seed on his return to the court after his three-month suspension for the Clostebol case.

And so it will be at Roland Garros, where last year's semi-finals (lost in five sets to Alcaraz) will have to be defended.

Tennis, Sinner può allenarsi liberamente: il n. 1 al mondo punta Roma

Jannik's 52nd week as number one will start during the French Slam (2 June), while number 53 will start at the end (9 June). Alcaraz's withdrawal from Madrid weighs heavily on the Atp ranking.

Zverev-Alcaraz. is challenging for the No. 2 ranking

Awaiting the return of No. 1 Jannik Sinner, Carlos slipped to third place, after having overtaken Zverev to second thanks to the Monte Carlo victory, precisely because of the defeat in Barcelona and the German's simultaneous victory in Munich.

Right now the German is at 7995, the Spaniard at 7860, 135 points apart.

In Madrid, Alcaraz would have no points to defend, having also missed the last Masters 1000 due to an elbow injury. The opportunity, therefore, was a good one to try to win as many points as possible, launch a new assault on Zverev's second place and try to bring Sinner's first closer.

The forfeit, on the other hand, exposes Alcaraz to the possible extension of Sascha, who on the clay of the Spanish capital will only have to defend 100 points.

The 52 consecutive weeks as number one will propel Sinner even further into history. In the Open era, only four other tennis players had managed to reach number one for the first time and then defend the position for one year. They are Roger Federer, Jimmy Connors, Lleyton Hewitt and Novak Djokovic. Not bad company.