Alcaraz clinches Roland Garros second seed

When Carlos Alcaraz defeated Jack Draper 6-4, 6-4 on Wednesday at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, he did more than advance to the semi-finals. The Spaniard also guaranteed that he will be the second seed at Roland Garros.

With his victory against the Briton, Alcaraz now has 8,240 points in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. Alexander Zverev can leave Rome with no more than 8,085 points, locking him into the third seed.

This means that Jannik Sinner, who will be the top seed, and Alcaraz will be on opposite halves of the draw and cannot meet until the final in Paris. Zverev will headline one of the two middle quarters and the fourth seed is still up for grabs.

"I think it's great being second seed in Roland Garros, knowing that I'm going to not see Jannik before the final, if I reach it. I think it's great," Alcaraz said. "It's something that I didn't think about, honestly." 

PIF ATP Live Rankings (as of 14 May)

Taylor Fritz is currently in line to be the fourth seed. However, Casper Ruud can give himself a chance to earn it by winning his second consecutive ATP Masters 1000 title.

The critical eighth seed is also up for grabs. Lorenzo Musetti is currently in position to claim it and would guarantee at least the eighth seed by defeating Zverev in the Rome quarter-finals. He could enter Paris as high as the sixth seed.

If the Italian loses to Zverev, he would open the door for Tommy Paul. With a Musetti quarter-final loss, Paul would earn the eighth seed by winning the Rome title. A top-eight seed is critical — it means a player will not face another top-eight seed until at least the quarter-finals.

There are two ATP Tour events next week — an ATP 500 in Hamburg and an ATP 250 in Geneva — but the Roland Garros seeds will be determined by Monday's PIF ATP Rankings.