Carlos Alcaraz of Spain together with his winners trophy within the locker room after victory towards Alex De Minaur of Australia within the Males’s Singles Ultimate match on Day Seven of the cinch Championships at The Queen’s Membership on June 25, 2023 in London, England.
| Picture Credit score: Getty Photographs
Carlos Alcaraz changed Novak Djokovic at No. 1 within the ATP rankings on Monday, that means the 20-year-old Spaniard is anticipated to have the highest seeding at Wimbledon.
Alcaraz, the reigning U.S. Open champion, is coming off the primary grass-court title of his profession, which he received Sunday by beating Alex De Minaur within the closing at Queen’s Membership in London, and that helped him rise one spot from No. 2.
Djokovic, who picked up his males’s-record twenty third Grand Slam title on the French Open this month, selected to not play any tuneup tournaments on grass forward of Wimbledon and slid down one place.
It’s the sixth time the No. 1 rating has switched in 2023, probably the most because it occurred seven occasions in 2018.
Play begins at Wimbledon on July 3.
The All England Membership will announce the boys’s and girls’s seeds Wednesday and is anticipated to easily observe the ATP and WTA rankings for these 32 berths in every 128-player singles draw. That may put Alcaraz and the main girl, Iga Swiatek, within the high line of every bracket.
Swiatek remained at No. 1 — as she has for each week since first climbing to that place in April 2022 — on Monday, a bit of greater than two weeks after she received the French Open for the third time. Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka stored her maintain on No. 2, and defending Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina is at No. 3. Jessica Pegula moved as much as No. 4, switching with No. 5 Caroline Garcia.
Wimbledon’s seedings was primarily based on a method that took under consideration gamers’ current success there and at different occasions contested on grass courts. However with solely the rankings mattering now, there’s the bizarre state of affairs of even final yr’s outcomes on the All England Membership not mattering — as a result of the ATP and WTA selected to withhold all rankings factors that may have been earned at Wimbledon in 2022 to protest the membership’s resolution to ban gamers from Russia and Belarus over the invasion of Ukraine.
That struggle continues, however the membership is permitting Russians and Belarusians to compete this time.
Djokovic has received Wimbledon every of the previous 4 occasions it was held — in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022; the event was canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic — and 7 occasions in all.
“I imply, Novak is the primary favourite to win Wimbledon. That’s apparent,” Alcaraz mentioned. “However I’ll attempt to play at this stage, to have possibilities to beat him or make the ultimate at Wimbledon.”
If they’re certainly seeded Nos. 1 and a couple of, Alcaraz and Djokovic may meet solely within the championship match on July 16. At Roland Garros, Alcaraz was the No. 1 seed for the primary time at a Grand Slam event, whereas Djokovic was No. 3, they usually had been drawn to satisfy within the semifinals. The primary two units had been terrific, however then Alcaraz light due to full-body cramps he attributed, at the very least partly, to pressure, and Djokovic took the final two units 6-1, 6-1 on the best way to the trophy.
There was no different main change within the males’s rankings Monday, with Daniil Medvedev nonetheless at No. 3, adopted by Casper Ruud at No. 4 and Stefanos Tsitsipas at No. 5. Taylor Fritz, who’s from California, and Frances Tiafoe, who’s from Maryland, had been at Nos. 9-10, remaining the primary pair of American males within the high 10 in additional than a decade.
