![\"Jannik](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/sinner-preview-monte--carlo-2026-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n Jannik Sinner
\n Sinner claims \u2018It\u2019s not one tournament that will define No. 1\u2019 battle with Alcaraz<\/p>\n
Italian has the chance to reclaim World No. 1 from Alcaraz in Monte-Carlo<\/p>\n
April 04, 2026<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
S\u00e9bastien Darrasse \/ Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters<\/p>\n
Jannik Sinner trains ahead of the 2026 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.
\n By Jerome Coombe<\/p>\n
Jannik Sinner<\/a> has the chance to reclaim the World No. 1 spot from Carlos Alcaraz<\/a> at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters<\/a> this week, and the Italian is firmly in control of his own destiny after a dominant run through March.<\/p>\n Following his quarter-final defeat to Jakub Mensik<\/a> in Doha, Sinner arrived in Indian Wells early and quickly adapted to the hot conditions, going on to complete the \u2018Sunshine Double\u2019 without dropping a set. Ahead of the first clay Masters 1000 tournament of the season in Monaco, the World No. 2 was asked whether that preparation would translate to a new surface.<\/p>\n \u201cWe did a lot of work in Indian Wells, and obviously the work continues,\u201d Sinner said. \u201cIt\u2019s a different surface, we all know that it\u2019s a bit more physical on clay, but last year I played some good tennis on this surface, so let\u2019s see what\u2019s coming this year.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like it helped me a lot in Indian Wells to get through very long sessions under the heat. I also didn\u2019t struggle at the [2025] US Open<\/a> in that regard, but more questions are going to be answered on this surface because matches might be a little bit longer. I personally like to play on clay. It\u2019s not my favourite surface, but I do believe that I can play some good tennis too.\u201d<\/p>\n After falling to rival Alcaraz in the US Open<\/a> final last year, Sinner relinquished the No. 1 spot in the PIF ATP Rankings to the Spaniard. However, by becoming just the eighth man in history to complete the \u2018Sunshine Double\u2019 with his runs through Indian Wells and Miami, the Italian has put himself in position to return to the summit at the conclusion of the Monte-Carlo event.<\/p>\n You May Also Like: How Sinner can become World No. 1 in Monte-Carlo<\/a><\/p>\n The equation is simple: win the title, and Sinner is guaranteed to climb back to No. 1 regardless of Alcaraz\u2019s result in the Principality. Sinner is a two-time semi-finalist in Monaco, while Alcaraz arrives as the defending champion after lifting the trophy last year.<\/p>\n Although Sinner is aware of the permutations, he remains focused on the bigger picture, knowing the clay swing offers multiple opportunities to apply pressure on Alcaraz, who went 22-1 on the surface last season, according to the Infosys ATP Win\/Loss Index.<\/p>\n \u201cI know the position, the situation and the scenarios, but it\u2019s not one tournament that will define who\u2019s No. 1 or No. 2,\u201d Sinner said. \u201cIt\u2019s a tournament that I love to play and I\u2019m happy to be here. I will try to win as many matches as possible but at the same time, there are even more tournaments coming up.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you are a top player, you aim to win trophies. The points are regardless, in a way. I watch the [PIF ATP Live] Race To Turin, because there you can see how someone is playing during the year.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more from Monte-Carlo Just 50 points separate first-placed Alcaraz and second-placed Sinner in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, underlining how finely poised the battle for ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honours remains. The 22-year-old Alcaraz became the youngest man to complete the Career Grand Slam<\/a> at the Australian Open<\/a> in January, before Sinner responded with a stunning stretch across the \u2018Sunshine Double\u2019 tournaments.<\/p>\n In his first appearance on clay since squandering three championship points to Alcaraz in the Roland Garros<\/a> final last June, Sinner will open his Monte-Carlo campaign against either 17-year-old wild card Moise Kouame<\/a> or Ugo Humbert<\/a>. The clay-court Masters 1000 event runs from 5\u201312 April.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jannik Sinner Sinner claims \u2018It\u2019s not one tournament that will define No. 1\u2019 battle with Alcaraz Italian has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":586484,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,85,747],"class_list":{"0":"post-586483","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-tennis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=586483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586483\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/586484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=586483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=586483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=586483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Sinner & Alcaraz’s Monte-Carlo draw: Which intriguing opponents could they face in R2?
<\/a>Scouting Report: Alcaraz, Sinner, Zverev eye clay success<\/a>
<\/a>How Sinner can become World No. 1 in Monte-Carlo<\/a>
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\n2026 Monte-Carlo tennis prize money<\/a><\/p>\n