The 22-year-old Sinner is the first player from Italy to
reach No. 1 since the computerized rankings began in 1973. He will be the
top-seeded man at Wimbledon, where play begins July 1.
Sinner is 33-3 this season with three titles, including
earning his first Grand Slam trophy at the Australian Open in January, part of
a 19-0 run to begin 2024.
Two of those three losses were against Carlos Alcaraz. One
came Friday in five sets in the semifinals at the French Open, which Alcaraz
went on to win by beating Alexander Zverev in the final on Sunday.
Alcaraz’s third major title allowed him to rise one place in
the rankings to No. 2, with Djokovic at No. 3, and Zverev remaining at No. 4.
Djokovic was the defending champion in Paris and needed to
get back to the final in order to stay at No. 1 because of his lack of play
this year and failure to reach the title match at any tournament so far. He
tore the meniscus in his right knee during a fourth-round victory over
Francisco Cerundolo at Roland Garros last week, withdrew before the
quarterfinals and had surgery.
Iga Swiatek’s third consecutive championship at Roland
Garros — her fourth there in five years and fifth major title overall — allowed
her to increase what already was a large lead at No. 1 in the WTA rankings.
Swiatek already was so far ahead of everyone else heading
into the French Open that she would have held onto the top spot even if she had
lost in the first round.
Coco Gauff climbed to a career-high No. 2 from No. 3. The
20-year-old American, last year’s U.S. Open champion, reached the French Open
singles semifinals before losing to Swiatek and won her first Grand Slam
doubles title with Katerina Siniakova.
Two-time Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka swapped
places with Gauff and is No. 3 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, jumped to a career-best No. 7 ranking, marking her first time in the WTA’s top 10. Paolini was No. 15 before the French Open. - AP