The world number two ranking might not sound as great as world number one but it's a good spot to be in and Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner will fight for it at the Indian Wells Open.
While many tennis players will say that the ranking basically doesn't matter, it does matter in many ways. It matters for the draw, as players ideally want to be ranked better to avoid facing high-seeded opponents.
Take the difference between number 2 and number 3 in the draw. If a player is seeded second, they can only meet the number one seed in the final, while the third seed can meet the top seed already in the semifinals.
With Novak Djokovic currently leading the rankings, the vast majority of the players would likely rather face the legendary Serbian in the final rather than in the semi-final, but athletes are ultra-competitive people, and maybe they really don't care.
Even without that, the number two seed could be the number one seed if the top player drops out so that's an added beenfit. Right now, the number two player in the world rankings is Carlos Alcaraz, but Jannik Sinner is breathing down his neck.
They will fight for the spot at the Indian Wells Open. Both played well at the event last year and are expected to make a deep run this time around as well. The difference is that Alcaraz is defending 1000 points because he won the event last year.
That complicates things for him because Sinner could overatake him as the number two seed after the event depending on how the results shake up. In fact, the Italian would end ahead of his young rival should the two lose in the same round.
The Spanish player is set to drop his points total from 8805 points to 7805, while Sinner will have 7910 points after the event, and that's the point total to which the points from the Indian Wells Open will be added.
That means, that for Alcaraz to be sure he'll keep the world no. 2 rank, he needs to win the tournament. If Sinner loses prior to the final, then the Spaniard likely needs to go at least one round further to stay ahead.
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