Carlos Alcaraz’s bid to close the gap to Jannik Sinner in the ATP Rankings has encountered a setback after he failed to capitalize on the world No. 1’s absence at the Qatar Open. With Sinner sidelined for three months due to a ban, Alcaraz, currently ranked No. 3, and No. 2 Alexander Zverev now find themselves with an opportunity to catch up — or even surpass — the Italian before his return to action.
As of now, Sinner holds 11,330 ranking points, while Zverev has accumulated 8,135 and Alcaraz trails with 7,410. However, with Sinner set to lose 1,600 points during his hiatus, he will effectively return with 9,730 points when he competes again at the Italian Open in May. Zverev and Alcaraz are also poised to lose points — Zverev 850 and Alcaraz 1,400 — meaning they will need to make up significant ground. Specifically, Zverev will need to earn 2,446 points, and Alcaraz will need 3,721 to overtake Sinner by the time the Rome ATP 1000 event begins.
Alcaraz came into the Qatar Open with momentum, having recently won a title in Rotterdam, and with no points to defend in Doha, any progress would have helped reduce the points gap to both Sinner and Zverev. Before the tournament, he shared his ambitions in an interview with AS, saying: “Whether Jannik plays or not, we try to do well in every tournament because number one is an objective. Right now, as always, we are trying to focus on what we have to train, what we have to improve, and from there we are going to do our best in the tournaments to try to get closer to number one.”
Alcaraz reached the quarterfinals in Doha, earning 100 points, with a maximum of 500 points available if he had gone on to win the tournament. However, his campaign ended in a surprising defeat at the hands of Jiri Lehecka. The Czech player triumphed 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, marking his first career victory over a top-three player. Despite having a 4-2 lead in the deciding set, Alcaraz saw Lehecka win four consecutive games to seal the match.
After the defeat, Alcaraz was gracious in his assessment, acknowledging his opponent’s resilience: “I’ve talked with my team, with my coach, and honestly, I don’t know what I could have done better. Probably a few serves, a few points that I didn’t play as well as I should have. Honestly, I don’t know. It was kind of difficult feelings, I guess. I mean, I have to give credit to him as well, because when he was down, especially in the third set, he didn’t give up.”
Looking ahead, Alcaraz is set to take a short break before heading to the United States for the prestigious Sunshine Double — the Indian Wells Open (March 5–19) followed by the Miami Open (March 19–30). With 1,000 points to defend in California and another 200 in Miami, Alcaraz will need deep runs at both events if he hopes to narrow the ranking gap to Sinner and Zverev.
Meanwhile, Zverev has a chance to make inroads in the rankings as he progresses through the quarterfinals at the Rio Open. A victory there would earn him 100 points, and if he goes on to win the tournament, he would finish with 8,535 points — just over 1,000 points behind Sinner’s adjusted total of 9,730 when he returns.