ATP rankings update: Carlos Alcaraz returns to No. 1 after dislodging Novak Djokovic
Courtesy of his title-winning run at the Queen's Club Championships, Carlos Alcaraz dislodged Novak Djokovic atop the ATP rankings, which were updated on Monday.
Playing in just his second grasscourt season, Alcaraz made a slow start. But after winning a closely contested three-set contest against Arthur Rinderknech in the opener, the youngster found his groove on the low-bouncing lawns.
Alcaraz raced past Jiri Lehecka before getting past seasoned campaigners in the form of Grigor Dimitrov, Sebastian Korda and Alex de Minaur, en route to his first grasscourt title. The same helped him earn 500 ranking points, just enough to edge ahead of Novak Djokovic.
The Spaniard now holds the top position in the ATP rankings with 7,675 points, followed by Novak Djokovic (7,595) in second place.
The duo hold a significant lead over the next-best player — Daniil Medvedev, who has 5,890 points. Casper Ruud (4,960) and Stefanos Tsitsipas 4,670 round out the top-five.
In the only change in the top-10 from last week, Jannik Sinner climbed a spot at the expense of Taylor Fritz. The Italian is now ranked No. 8 with 3,345 points just behind Holger Rune and Andrey Rublev in No. 6 and 7, respectively.
Frances Tiafoe, who reached a career-high last week, maintained his position inside the top-10 ATP rankings.
Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic go into Wimbledon as leaders in ATP rankings
With their top-two positions in the ATP rankings safe for the coming week, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic will go into Wimbledon as the seeds anchoring the top and bottom halves of the men's singles draw.
The likes of Sebastian Korda and Alexander Bublik, both of whom posted solid showings this week, may also have done just enough to secure seeded positions at the grasscourt Slam.
While Korda climbed seven spots to a career-high No. 25 off the back of his semifinals run at Queen's, Bublik jumped a massive 21 spots to be ranked No. 27 courtesy of his title win in Halle.
Other big movers in this week's ATP rankings included Lorenzo Musetti (+1 to No. 15), Daniel Evans (-5 to No. 30), Yannick Hanfmann (+5 to No. 48), Maxime Cressy (-13 to No. 55), Laslo Djere (+9 to No. 56), Sebastian Ofner (+12 to No. 69), Jason Kubler (+22 to No. 75) and Alexandre Muller (+21 to No. 82).