PIF ATP Live Rankings Projection
How Alcaraz can retake No. 1 from Sinner in Barcelona
Spaniard, who competes in Barcelona, has chance to reclaim top spot
April 14, 2026
Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour
Carlos Alcaraz is a 26-time tour-level titlist.
By ATP Staff
Carlos Alcaraz has the opportunity to secure an immediate return to World No. 1 on home soil this week at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell.
The No. 2 player in the PIF ATP Rankings competes as the top seed at the clay ATP 500, where he is chasing his third title after his triumphs in 2022 and 2023. Alcaraz, who relinquished No. 1 to Jannik Sinner after falling to the Italian in the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters final, also knows that lifting the Barcelona title will be enough to secure his return to top spot — for now at least.
Having reached the Barcelona championship match a year ago (when he lost to Holger Rune), Alcaraz is defending 330 PIF ATP Rankings points this week, while Sinner is not in action. The Spaniard starts his title bid in Catalonia trailing Sinner by 440 points in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, meaning he will return to No. 1 next Monday should he lift the trophy at the ATP 500.
Alcaraz’s potential PIF ATP Live Rankings points in Barcelona, chasing Sinner’s 13,350
Round
Points
R32
12,910
R16
12,960
QF
13,010
SF
13,110
F
13,240
W
13,410
Not that Alcaraz will be taking anything for granted this week. If he defeats Otto Virtanen in his opening match on Tuesday, the Spaniard will face a former Top 20 opponent in the second round, either Tomas Machac or Sebastian Baez. He is seeded to meet Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals and Alex de Minaur in the semi-finals, while World No. 9 Lorenzo Musetti is the second seed aiming to deny Alcaraz the trophy.
Even given his tough Barcelona draw, perhaps the absent Sinner will be the one who provides Alcaraz the extra edge he needs to power through to the title and a return to World No. 1 after just one week away.
“I won’t miss him this week,” Alcaraz, speaking ahead of his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Virtanen, joked about Sinner. “I saw that I have to win the tournament here if I want to get the No. 1 back. I think the battle between Jannik and myself is great. I think it probably provides extra motivation.”
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If he succeeds in returning to No. 1 on Monday, Alcaraz would next week tie his great rival Sinner’s overall tally of having spent 67 weeks as World No. 1. It would also mean he heads to the Mutua Madrid Open in top spot: Neither Alcaraz nor Sinner has any points to defend at the ATP Masters 1000 event, which runs from 22 April to 3 May in the Spanish capital.
When it comes to retaining his status as the world’s best player, however, things would get tougher for Alcaraz from there. The 22-year-old has 3,000 points to defend across the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome and Roland Garros, both tournaments where he triumphed in 2025. In contrast, Sinner has 1,950 points to defend over the same period, having lost to Alcaraz in both the Rome and Roland Garros finals a year ago.