By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday March 5, 2024
Jannik Sinner is in pole position to pass Carlos Alcaraz in the rankings.
At the BNP Paribas Open the Italian is technically already in front of his Spanish rival. In the live rankings Alcaraz has already dropped his 1000 points from winning the title at Indian Wells last year. Sinner drops 360 from reaching the semifinals, but is still currently ahead of Alcaraz by 105 points.
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Sinner last ranked ahead of Alcaraz on March 21st, 2022, but the Spaniard went on a tear after that and would reach No.1 in September of that same year.
But more recently, Sinner has been making up ground. The Italian became the highest ranked man in his nation’s history after this year's Australian Open when he reached No.2
Daniil Medvedev, currently fourth in the rankings, also has a shot, albeit small, to climb to No.2 at Indian Wells.
Alcaraz has held a Top 2 ranking since September of 2022, when he rose to No.1 for the first time. He will need to outperform Sinner by 105 points at Indian Wells to remain there.
Alcaraz, seeded No.2, will face either Matteo Arnaldi or Luca Van Assche in the second round at Indian Wells; Sinner, seeded third, will face Thanasi Kokkinakis or Marcos Giron in the second half.
Sinner and Alcaraz are in the lower half of the men’s singles draw, opposite top-seeded Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev and Rafael Nadal.