Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, curious scenario at the gates

Should Alcaraz triumph in Rio de Janeiro, the two would end up with the same points in the ATP ranking

A curious, anomalous situation, but nevertheless governed by existing regulations. Carlos Alcaraz, engaged in the ATP 500 tournament in Rio de Janeiro that ends on Sunday, has an opportunity to repeat his success from last year. Should he do so, he would rise to 6980 points in the ATP ranking: they would be the same as Novak Djokovc in light of the loss of 90 points by the Serb, who is stationary on the circuit in the current week.

The question arises: who would be world number one on Monday, February 27? The rules are clear in Rule 9.03, Subparagraph E, Subparagraph 1: “When two players have the same total number of points, the tie shall be resolved by awarding the higher position to the player with the highest number of points won in the Slams, Masters 1000 Mandatory – excluding Monte Carlo, ed. – and Nitto ATP Finals.”

According to these calculations, the Belgrade champion would be able to count on 5820 points, compared to 5090 for the talent from Murcia: Djokovic would therefore retain, in any case, the scepter of number one ranking. With the icing, in no small part, of touching 378 weeks at the top, thus beating the record of Steffi Graf, who was world number one on the WTA circuit for 377 weeks.