Sinner to debut as No. 1 in Halle, Alcaraz headlines Queen’s Club

Jannik Sinner be playing for the first time as No. 1 in the world when he takes the court the Terra Wortmann Open next week.

Sinner secured the top ATP’s top ranking at the French Open, where Novak Djokovic had to defend his 2,000 points from last year’s title if the 37-year-old Serb wanted to stay No. 1. However, he was forced to withdraw prior to the quarterfinal due to a knee injury that either developed or at least got worse during a fourth-round marathon against Francisco Cerundolo. Sinner fell in the semifinals to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz.

Although the Italian came up short of a second slam triumph in 2024, he did more than enough to surpass Djokovic. He as already arrived in Halle, where he hopes to build on the momentum.

“Of course I want to be in the fight for the title,” Sinner commented. “But the competition is very, very strong.”

How strong? Well, joining the 22-year-old in a stracked field is Roland Garros runner-up Alexander Zverev, Andrey Rublev, Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Hubert Hurkacz, and defending champion Alexander Bublik.

Meanwhile, Alcaraz is heading to Queen’s Club to defending that title. The second-ranked Spaniard will have competition in the form of Alex de Minaur, Grigor Dimitrov, Holger Rune, and Taylor Fritz. Andy Murray will presumably get a wild card into the tournament.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.