Alcaraz Surges To Lead Of Live Race

Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour

Carlos Alcaraz took the lead in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin on Sunday by winning the Mutua Madrid Open. It is the first time this season the Spaniard has led the Live Race.

The 20-year-old in Madrid passed both Daniil Medvedev (3,300 points) and Novak Djokovic (2,565 points) to surge into the top spot. He owns a 110-point advantage over Medvedev leading into the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, the season’s fifth ATP Masters 1000 event.

Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin

The Live Race serves as the year-to-date standings and the barometer for the battle to finish as the year-end ATP No. 1 presented by Pepperstone. Last year, then-19-year-old Alcaraz became the youngest year-end No. 1 in history. The Live Race also determines the qualifiers for the Nitto ATP Finals, which will be held in Turin at the Pala Alpitour from 12-19 November.

After Rome, Alcaraz is also poised to return to World No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, which accounts for a player’s results over the past 52 weeks.

When the Internazionali BNL d’Italia draw is released, Alcaraz will lead Novak Djokovic by 995 points in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings. By playing his first match, he will earn at least 10 points, guaranteeing his return to World No. 1.

Alcaraz is now 29-2 on the season with four titles. After missing the Australian swing due to injury, the Spaniard has triumphed in Buenos Aires, Indian Wells, Barcelona and Madrid. His earliest loss of the year came in the semi-finals of Miami to Jannik Sinner.

The player Alcaraz defeated in the Madrid final, Jan-Lennard Struff, climbed 18 places to 13th in the Live Race with 1,102 points. The German is within 428 points of eighth-placed Karen Khachanov for the final qualifying spot for the Nitto ATP Finals.