Alcaraz replaces Djokovic at No. 1 ahead of Wimbledon; Swiatek stays atop WTA

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Carlos Alcaraz changed Novak Djokovic at No. 1 within the ATP rankings on Monday, that means the 20-year-old Spaniard is predicted 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 gained Sunday by beating Alex De Minaur within the remaining 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.

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It’s the sixth time the No. 1 rating has switched in 2023, essentially the most because it occurred seven instances in 2018.

Play begins at Wimbledon on July 3.

The All England Membership will announce the lads’s and girls’s seeds Wednesday and is predicted to easily comply with the ATP and WTA rankings for these 32 berths in every 128-player singles draw. That will put Alcaraz and the main girl, Iga Swiatek, within the prime 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, slightly greater than two weeks after she gained 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 once based mostly on a system that took into consideration gamers’ latest success there and at different occasions contested on grass courts. However with solely the rankings mattering now, there’s the bizarre scenario 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 might have been earned at Wimbledon in 2022 to protest the membership’s choice to ban gamers from Russia and Belarus over the invasion of Ukraine.

That warfare continues, however the membership is permitting Russians and Belarusians to compete this time.

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic performs a shot in opposition to Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz throughout their semifinal match of the French Open tennis event on the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, Friday, June 9, 2023. (Jean-Francois Badias/AP)

Djokovic has gained Wimbledon every of the previous 4 instances it was held — in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022; the event was cancelled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic — and 7 instances in all.

“I imply, Novak is the primary favourite to win Wimbledon. That’s apparent,” Alcaraz stated. “However I’ll attempt to play at this stage, to have probabilities 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, and so they have been drawn to satisfy within the semifinals. The primary two units have been terrific, however then Alcaraz pale due to full-body cramps he attributed, not less than partially, to rigidity, 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, have been at Nos. 9-10, remaining the primary pair of American males within the prime 10 in additional than a decade.

Getting into Wimbledon, Felix Auger-Aliassime is the top-ranked Canadian at 12, adopted by Denis Shapovalov at 29. On the ladies’s aspect, Bianca Andreescu at 51, is the top-ranked Canadian girl on tour.