Jannik Sinner is officially back on top.<\/p>\n
The Italian tennis star reclaimed the No. 1 ATP ranking with a 7-6 (5), 6-3 win over Carlos Alcaraz in the Monte-Carlo Masters final on Sunday. It is the fourth time the top ranking has exchanged hands between Sinner and Alcaraz over the past two years, with no other player coming close to breaking up the duopoly.<\/p>\n
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Sinner has now won four straight ATP 1000 Masters tournaments, joining Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. This one was likely a bit more special for Sinner, occurring on the clay surface upon which he\u2019s struggled.<\/p>\n
“Getting back to No. 1 means a lot to me,\u201d Sinner said after the match, via Sky Sports<\/a>. \u201cAt the same time, the ranking is secondary. I’m very happy to win at least one big trophy on this surface. I haven’t done it before, so it means a lot to me.”<\/p>\n Alcaraz took an early 2-0 lead in the first set. But Sinner broke his serve landing a shot just inside the line that Alcaraz could not handle. Sinner evened the set when Alcaraz attempted a drop shot that fell short. However, his drop shot worked in the next game, giving him a 3-2 lead.<\/p>\n The first set looked as if it would go to Alcaraz after he gained a 6-5 advantage by holding serve and overpowering Sinner with his forehand. But errors from Alcaraz at the net gave Sinner an opportunity to capitalize and he did so to win the tiebreaker.<\/p>\n In the second set, Sinner took control after breaking Alcaraz in the third game, who hit a deep forehand into the net after a long rally. In the fifth, Alcaraz again missed on a drop shot and Sinner broke serve.<\/p>\n With the win, Sinner improves his head-to-head record versus Alcaraz to seven wins in their 17 matches. He has won two consecutive matches over his rival \u2014 including a 7-6 (4), 7-5 victory in last year\u2019s ATP Finals \u2014 and three of their past five meetings going back to Wimbledon.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Sinner now sits at 13,350 points in the rankings, while Alcaraz is close behind him at 13,240. The next-closest is No. 3 Alexander Zverev with 5,595.<\/p>\n Sinner retaking No. 1 also means he will take the lead in career weeks there in his rivalry with Alcaraz. The pair entered this week with 66 career weeks each at No. 1, but Sinner is now set to take a healthy lead there.<\/p>\n Jannik Sinner becoming No. 1 again was inevitable after the Sunshine Double<\/p>\n