How Carlos Alcaraz is set to get to world No. 1 at Italian Open and be French Open top seed ahead of Novak Djokovic

Carlos Alcaraz looks set to get to world No. 1 again. The 20-year-old has already had two stints at the top of the rankings, lasting a combined 22 weeks, and after his win at the Madrid Open he is just five points behind current world No.

1 Novak Djokovic. Ad With the Italian Open starting this week, Alcaraz, who won the Breakthrough of the Year award at the Laureus World Sports Awards, is poised to take over from Djokovic again. TennisAlcaraz overcomes 'hard times and pain' to win Laureus awardAN HOUR AGO We look at what Alcaraz needs to do in Rome to become world No.

1 and what it will mean for the French Open. How can Alcaraz become world No. 1 in Rome? The equation is simple: Alcaraz just needs to play one match at the Italian Open and he will be the new confirmed world No.

1 after the tournament. That’s because Alcaraz didn’t play the ATP 1000 event last year so has no points to defend – and a maximum of 1,000 to gain. By just playing his opening match — no matter the result — he will get enough points to overtake Djokovic.

Djokovic won the Italian Open in 2022 so he can’t improve his points tally and can only stay on his current total of 5,775 by lifting the trophy again. Both players are set to play the tournament, making it the first event they have both entered since the Paris Masters in November. As the top two seeds they can only face each other in the final, which would be their second career meeting.

Who will be top seed for the French Open? If Alcaraz does all that’s required to overtake Djokovic at the Italian Open he will be officially confirmed as the new world No. 1 on Monday, May 22. He will also be the top seed for the French Open, which starts on May 28.