Alcaraz and Zverev must win 4 tournaments in 50 days to overtake the South Tyrolean in the ATP ranking. Sinner, countdown

The defeat of Carlos Alcaraz In Indian Wells, the Spaniard was eliminated in the semifinals by the Englishman Jack Draper, further protects the primacy of Jannik Sinner in the ATP ranking. First place that could remain until May 7th when the South Tyrolean tennis player will have definitively overcome the disqualification and will be able to return to the court in Rome for the International. Only Alcaraz, third in the ranking, and the number two in the world Alexander Zverev can undermine him.

The way in which ranking points are gained or lost is complex, but what really matters is that at the end of this calculation, Zverev, to overtake Jannik, must win the Miami tournament (March 19-30), repeat in Monte Carlo (April 6-14) and Munich (April 14-20) and after this trio of successes fly to Madrid (April 23-May 4) and lift the Cup there too. A similar path for Alcaraz who must win the Masters 1000 in Miami, Monte Carlo and Madrid and then win the ATP 500 in Barcelona.

In short, to overcome Sinner, both must win 4 tournaments in 50 days and this seems highly unlikely given the discontinuity that has characterized their path up to now and considering that the success of one automatically eliminates the other. In two weeks we will know if the current 3385 points advantage over Zverev and 4420 over Alcaraz will become an insurmountable limit or the question is postponed to the next tournament with at least one of the two.