Nadal and Tsitsipas looking to pinch World No.1 spot from injured Alcaraz at ATP Finals

Monday, 07 November 2022 at 07:00

Updated at Sunday, 06 November 2022 at 21:42

nadal rafael wimbledon2022 martinsidorjak13

byTom Grant

At the Paris Masters on Sunday, ANOTHER new star was born in the form of Danish wonderkid Holger Rune, stunning Novak Djokovic in the Bercy final in an enthralling encounter.

It felt like a breakthrough moment for the sport, akin to Roger Federer toppling Pete Sampras at Wimbledon in 2001, leaving fans in no doubt that the future of men's tennis is in safe, capable hands.

All eyes now turn to Turin for the ATP Finals, where two looking to hunt down Carlos Alcaraz's World No.1 ranking.

Like Rune, the Spanish wizard has taken the tour by storm this year, winning his first Grand Slam at the US Open and becoming the youngest ever World No.1 in the process.

However, Alcaraz had to retire in his Paris semi-final against Rune and later withdrew from the ATP Finals due to an abdominal injury.

That absence leaves Rafael Nadal and now Stefanos Tsitsipas, the latter enjoying a strong week in Bercy, with the chance to finish the campaign as World No.1 and snatch the accolade from injured Alcaraz.

Here, Tennis Infinity explains how each can finish 2022 as World No.1.

Rafael Nadal

Nadal currently sits second in the rankings, helped by a strong start to the year where he claimed an unlikely Australian Open title and then his tradtional French Open title.

Sitting on 5,820 ranking points, exactly 1000 points behind compatriot Alcaraz, the simplest scenario for him to clinch the year-end No.1 spot is by winning the ATP Finals in Turin, as he will earn 1,500 points.

He can also do it if he gets to the final and loses, provided he wins his first four matches and remains undefeated en route to the final.

However, Nadal must avoid losing to an undefeated Tsitsipas in the final, as that would leave the Greek as the top dog.

There is a permutation that if Nadal was to go undefeated in the event, but lost in the final, he would finish on the exact same number of points as Alcaraz.

In such a case, Nadal would take No.1 by virtue of earning more combined points at the Grand Slams, Masters 1000 tournaments, and ATP Finals than Alcaraz.

Stefanos Tsitsipas

The Greek - on 5350 points - is sitting in the No.3 position in the live rankings after falling to Novak Djokovic in a tense semi-final in Paris.

Still, Tsitsipas is with a chance and the task at hand for him is really quite simple.

He must win the ATP Finals in Turin without losing a single match to overtake Alcaraz and claim an honour few had given him any hope of just a few weeks ago.

But Tsitsipas is a consistent performer, and it's not beyond the realms of possibility he can pull it off - however unlikely.