What Alcaraz Must Do To Reclaim World No. 1 From Djokovic

Carlos Alcaraz kept alive his chances of reclaiming World No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings next Monday with his three-set win over Arthur Rinderknech in the first round of the Cinch Championships.

The 20-year-old Spaniard will climb past World No. 1 Novak Djokovic next week if he wins the title at the ATP 500 grass-court event. Anything less and recent Roland Garros champion Djokovic will remain No. 1.

Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings (as of 20 June)

Every match counts for Alcaraz, though. Since no points are being defended at Wimbledon this year, he will want to stick as close to Djokovic in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings as possible, even if he is unable to return to No. 1 immediately.

Djokovic is closing in on history. The 36-year-old has held World No. 1 for 389 weeks in his career, more than any man or woman in tennis history. He is trying to become the first to sit atop tennis’ mountain for 400 weeks.

But Alcaraz is attempting to halt that pursuit. The Spaniard has already been World No. 1 for 25 weeks in his young career, 16th-most in history. He will also try to earn his second year-end ATP No. 1 presented by Pepperstone after last year becoming the youngest player in history to claim the achievement.

For now, Alcaraz will focus on Queen’s Club, where he will play Czech Jiri Lehecka in the second round.

There is movement possible elsewhere this week, too. World No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas will pass Casper Ruud to become World No. 4 if he wins the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle. Holger Rune can crack the Top 5 for the first time if he triumphs at Queen’s Club and Tsitsipas fails to reach the final in Germany.