Novak Djokovic is set to lose his World No.1 ranking to Carlos Alcaraz after the 20-year-old defended his Madrid Open title. Alcaraz hasn’t been at his all-conquering best this week in Madrid, but the Spaniard celebrated his birthday week with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Jan-Lennard Struf in the final to become just the second player ever to defend the title after Rafa Nadal in 2013 and 2014.
Alcaraz has now defended both the Barcelona Open and Madrid Open and has won his second Masters 1000 event in 2023 following his Indian Wells triumph. And following his defence of the title, Alcaraz sits only five points behind Djokovic on the world rankings.
Djokovic missed the Madrid Open after suffering an elbow injury in the build-up to the clay court season. He was knocked out in his second match in both the Monte Carlo Open and Srpska Open and is no certainty to take part in Rome.
However, Alcaraz only has to set foot on the court in Rome and play one match to overtake Djokovic and head into the French Open as the World No.1. While the ranking won’t make a huge difference in Paris, it will mark the second time this year Alcaraz has grabbed the top spot off Djokovic.
