Carlos Alcaraz will remain the world’s No. 2 tennis player after Alexander Zverev’s loss at the Vienna Open in 2024. Earlier this month, Jannik Sinner secured his spot as the year-end No. 1 when Alcaraz was defeated in the Shanghai Masters quarterfinals. Sinner achieved this milestone faster than anyone since Novak Djokovic did it back in 2015.
Sinner first claimed the top ranking after winning the French Open, surpassing Djokovic. He then strengthened his position by clinching victories at Cincinnati, the US Open, and Shanghai Masters. Meanwhile, Alcaraz closed in on Sinner by winning both the French Open and Wimbledon titles, taking his total Grand Slam wins to four at just 21 years old.
Despite a hard-fought win against Sinner at the China Open final not long ago , Alcaraz’s chance of ending 2024 as No. 1 vanished with his loss to Tomas Machac in Shanghai eight days later. Fans might feel that Alcaraz still has a lot of potential for future seasons.
| Name | Age | Points | Stats 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| es Carlos Alcaraz | 21 | 68,791 | 25 - 5 |
Current Rankings and Future Prospects:
Alcaraz decided to skip both Vienna Open and Swiss Indoors after playing at an exhibition event in Saudi Arabia. On the other hand, Zverev chose to compete in Vienna despite criticizing how long tennis seasons are. He wasn’t part of that exhibition event, making Vienna a better fit for him.
Zverev started strong with wins over Joel Schwaerzler and Marcos Giron but faced a tough challenge against Lorenzo Musetti—a Wimbledon semifinalist and Olympic bronze medalist—who eventually beat him 2-6, 7-6, 6-4. This marked Musetti’s second consecutive victory over Zverev; their last encounter was during the Olympics.
At Vienna’s start, Zverev had accumulated 6,795 points compared to Alcaraz’s 7,120 points but needed more than just reaching quarterfinals to surpass him—winning would have earned him those crucial extra points! Instead he only gained enough points to reach a total of about 6,805—not quite enough yet!
However! The race isn’t over: both players are set for upcoming events like Paris Masters & ATP Finals where they can still earn valuable ranking boosts before season ends; who knows what surprises await them there? Could they possibly catch up next year?
What do you think about these exciting matches?
