Carlos Alcaraz takes Novak Djokovic’s time

On Monday, the ranking of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) was the sixth this year change of leader. They again became the Spaniard Carlos Alcaras, who overtook the Serbian Novak Djokovic. Despite the highest degree of competition in the current century in the fight for the title of the first racket of the world, Djokovic still has a chance to meet his 400th week on the top line of the world classification. The most important tournament for him to achieve this goal will be Wimbledon starting in a week.

Return of Novak Djokovic to the top spot in the ATP rankings after triumph at Roland Garros was short-lived. After only two weeks at the head of the world classification, the Serb again lost the top line to the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, who on Sunday in London at the 500 category tournament won his first grass, fifth this year and 11th career title.

This season, the leader of the men’s world classification has changed for the sixth time. The more intense competition in the dispute for the tennis crown in the entire 49-year history of the ATP rankings was observed only in the last century. In 1983, two Americans, John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors, along with the Czech Ivan Lendl, alternated in first place ten times, and in 1999 there were eight such cases, in which Americans Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi had a hand, Spaniard Carlos Moya , Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Australian Patrick Rafter.

The fundamental intrigue in the struggle between Alcaras and Djokovic for leadership is now connected with the fact that the number of weeks spent by the Serb as the first racket of the world increased from 373 to 389 from January to June. And although the former record holder for this indicator, the Swiss Roger Federer, with his 310 weeks, Djokovic passed back in March 2021, he certainly dreams of conquering the 400-week anniversary milestone, which until relatively recently looked fantastic.

Before the start of Wimbledon, starting on July 3, Djokovic is only 80 points behind Alcaraz. At the same time, neither one nor the other has anything to defend in London, since last year rating points were not awarded there.

Considering that the victory at the Grand Slam tournament is estimated at 2000 points, and the final – at 1200, the gap between the Spaniard and the Serb can be considered microscopic.

But their pursuers are at a considerable distance. The third Russian Daniil Medvedev, who, after the sensational May victories on the unpaved Italian Open slowed down sharply – lost his first matches at Roland Garros and the grass tournament in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, and in Halle he reached only the quarterfinals, he is immediately behind Djokovic by 1705 points. According to the results of Wimbledon, Medvedev can claim the first place only in case of his own victory, while his two competitors must fly out before the quarterfinals. With Djokovic winning Wimbledon seven times and Alcaraz showing some great grass tennis last week, it’s unlikely that this will happen, and on July 17, the day after Wimbledon ends, the world ranking leader will almost certainly be the one who makes it to the bracket. further.

So far, the chances of Alcaraz and Djokovic in the third Grand Slam tournament of the season look about equal. Incidentally, it was the same at Roland Garros, where the Serbian turned out to be stronger in the full-time semi-finals.

Much will depend on the draw, which will take place on June 30, although it is already clear that the two favorites will be in different halves of the bracket and will only be able to meet in the final. In any case, the period from July 17 to October 2 (which is exactly 11 weeks) is the best period for Djokovic to reach the 400-week mark, who missed the entire American series last season due to lack of a coronavirus vaccine and, accordingly, did not score any one point. Alcaraz, the reigning US Open champion, scored 2,640 points in the same span. And in October and November, Djokovic will have to defend the 2850 points scored last year thanks to victories in Tel Aviv, Astana, Turin at the Nitto ATP Finals and the final at the Paris Masters.

Evgeny Fedyakov