Jannik Sinner has been the No. 1 in the ATP rankings for over four months, but his rival Carlos Alcaraz is ahead of him in the alternative UTR rankings.
Sinner began 2024 at No. 4 in the official rankings. He trailed Novak Djokovic, Alcaraz, and Daniil Medvedev. Much work was needed for him to have a chance of reaching No. 1.
However, expectations of the Italian increased after an impressive end to the 2023 season, which saw him win the Davis Cup with Italy, secure titles at the China Open and Vienna Open, and finish as the runner-up at the ATP Finals.
Sinner lived up to those hopes by winning his maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open after staging a dramatic recovery from two sets down against Daniil Medvedev in the final.
The 23-year-old followed that with further titles at the Rotterdam Open and the Miami Open, inching closer to Novak Djokovic in the rankings, who had dominated the sport in 2023 by securing three Grand Slams.
Sinner became No. 1 after the French Open. Djokovic could not defend the points he earned from winning last year's event at Roland-Garros after withdrawing with an injury, handing the spot at the top to the Italian.
Despite that achievement, the middle of the season belonged to Alcaraz. He won the French Open and his second Wimbledon title, taking his Grand Slam tally up to four despite being just 21 years old.
Any questions about Sinner's season starting to unravel were swiftly answered by his winning the Cincinnati Open. He then beat Taylor Fritz in the final to claim his maiden US Open title.
Alcaraz outlasted Sinner to win the China Open at the start of October, but the world No. 1 then extended his lead at the top of the rankings to 4,800 points by securing his third Masters-1000 title of 2024 at the Shanghai Masters.
The ATP's criteria clearly rates Sinner as the best player in 2024, but the UTR rankings calculate which players are the best differently, and Alcaraz is at the top of its list.
The UTR system emphasizes recent form more than results throughout the entire season. Victories against higher-ranked players are also worth more in the UTR algorithm.
Advocates of the UTR rankings believe its focus on events from the last few weeks and months rather than tournaments from up to a year ago is a better indication of which players have been performing the best for a period of time.
Alcaraz has a UTR of 16.12, narrowly ahead of his rival's 16.10. Sinner's three-month trend of 16.14 is slightly better than the Spaniard's, but it is not good enough to prevent Alcaraz from being at No. 1 in the UTR rankings.
Djokovic is at No. 3 with a UTR of 16.01, putting him one place higher than the official ATP rankings. Daniil Medvedev is at No. 8, three places lower than his official ranking, while Alex de Minaur's UTR ranking of No. 5 is five places higher than his ATP ranking of No. 10.
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