What Sinner must do to climb to live World No. 2 after Monte-Carlo

Jannik Sinner won his opening match in convincing fashion Wednesday against Sebastian Korda at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. The Italian will need to keep his momentum going if he wants to reclaim World No. 2 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings this week.

The 22-year-old must make the semi-finals in the Principality to surge ahead of Carlos Alcaraz.

PIF ATP Live Rankings 

The Spaniard is No. 2 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, but will not add any points because of his withdrawal due to a right arm injury. Sinner is the live No. 3, currently 205 points behind Alcaraz.

If Sinner earns two more victories to reach the semi-finals, he will pass Alcaraz for live World No. 2. Novak Djokovic is guaranteed to remain World No. 1 this week.

However, in the medium term, the battle for top spot will heat up during the clay-court season. After Monte-Carlo, Djokovic (2,225) and Alcaraz (2,265) have many more points to defend on the surface than Sinner (225), giving the Italian a chance to make a charge.

World No. 1 Battle

In a best possible scenario for Sinner, should he win the title in Monaco and Djokovic loses in the third round to Lorenzo Musetti, the 22-year-old would climb to within 385 points of the Serbian. Sinner is trying to become the first Italian in PIF ATP Rankings history to reach World No. 1. 

There are other battles for position going on, too. Defending champion Andrey Rublev lost Wednesday and is currently No. 6 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, giving other stars an opportunity to move higher in the Top 10. No. 7 Hubert Hurkacz (3,675), No. 8 Grigor Dimitrov (3,545), No. 9 Casper Ruud (3,475) and No. 10 Alex de Minaur (3,410) are all within 525 points of Rublev.