Last September, Carlos Alcaraz went down in history as the youngest player to become world number one. The 19-year-old maintained this position for 20 weeks, and ended the year at the top of the ATP rankings.
If he wins the first Masters event this season, in Indian Wells, Alcaraz will return to world number one on March 20. In case he loses in the final, that position still belongs to Novak Djokovic – the Serbian player is in the 379th week leading the ATP scoreboard.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, who had to defend only 135 points in Indian Wells and Miami, also had his first chance at world number one. To do that, the Greek player needs to win one of the two Masters tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami, and reach the final of the other event.
Former world number one Daniil Medvedev has been playing in form in recent weeks. The 27-year-old is currently the top winner this season (19 games), and has won three tournaments in a row in three weeks, in Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai.
Medvedev only had to defend 45 points in Indian Wells this week. Meanwhile, Taylor Fritz – who ranked number five in the world, needs to defend the 1,000 points of last year’s championship. Medvedev thus has a great opportunity to overcome both Fritz and Casper Ruud – who is 1,785 points ahead of Medvedev.
March 20 also witnessed Rafael Nadal falling out of the world’s top 10 for the first time since April 25, 2005 – when he was 18 years old. The Spaniard will end his record of 912 consecutive weeks in the ATP top 10.
