PARIS– Jannik Sinner made his debut at No. 1 in the ATP rankings on Monday, moving up one place to replace the injured Novak Djokovic.
O 22 year old sinner is the first Italian player to reach the top spot since computerized rankings began in 1973. He will be the highest-ranked player at Wimbledon, where play begins on July 1.
Sinner is 33-3 this season and has three titles, including winning his first Grand Slam trophy at Australian Open in Januarypart of a 19-0 run to start 2024.
Two of those three defeats were against Carlos Alcaraz. One arrived on Friday five sets in French Open semifinalswhich Alcaraz won by defeating Alexander Zverev in the final on Sunday.
Alcaraz’s third major title allowed him to move up one place in the rankings to 2nd, with Djokovic in 3rd and Zverev remaining in 4th.
Djokovic was the defending champion in Paris and needed to get back to the final to stay in first place because of his lack of play this year and his failure to reach the title match in any tournament to date. He tore the meniscus in his right knee during his fourth-round victory over Francisco Cerundolo at Roland Garros last week, he withdrew before the quarterfinals and underwent surgery.
Iga Swiatek’s third consecutive championship at Roland Garros – her fourth in five years and fifth major title overall – allowed her to increase what was already a big lead for first place in the WTA rankings.
Swiatek was already so far ahead of everyone else at the French Open that he would have maintained the top spot even if he had lost in the first round.
Coco Gauff rose from third place to a career-best second place. The 20-year-old American, last year’s US Open champion, reached the French Open singles semi-finals before losing to Swiatek and winning first Grand Slam doubles title with Katerina Siniakova.
Two-time Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka swapped places with Gauff and is seeded third on Monday, followed by 2022 Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina.
Jasmine Paolini, a 28-year-old Italian who lost to Swiatek on Saturday in her first major final, she jumped to a career-best 7th position, marking her first time in the WTA top 10. Paolini was ranked 15th before the French Open.
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