Rankings History: Sinner, Alcaraz, Swiatek & Gauff Simultaneously Occupy Top Two Spots

The landscape of men's and women's tennis is rapidly changing and that is evident from this week's freshly published ATP and WTA rankings.

The world's top two players across both tours are players born in the 2000s, which has never happened simultaneously in the past. On the ATP side, Jannik Sinner (born in 2001) officially became the new World No. 1. He is the first Italian in history to achieve this milestone.

And just behind him is Carlos Alcaraz (born in 2003) who replaced Novak Djokovic in the top two after winning the French Open for the first time in his career. The Spaniard defeated Alexander Zverev in five sets in Sunday's final.

On the women's side, Iga Swiatek's dominance at the top of the women's rankings shows no signs of ending anytime soon, with the Pole establishing the highest points tally by a WTA player since 2015. She won her fourth Roland Garros crown in five years, dropping just one set during the fortnight.

Swiatek, born in 2001, defeated first-time Grand Slam finalist Jasmine Paolini of Italy 6-2, 6-1 in Saturday's final. And there is a new name at World No. 2 as of this week.

20-year-old Coco Gauff has replaced reigning Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka in the top two. Gauff was a semi-finalist at the recently concluded French Open, losing to eventual champion Swiatek.

For so long, men's tennis has been ruled by one man: Novak Djokovic, who spent a record 428 weeks at No. 1, the most by a singles tennis player. But that monopoly is quickly fading as Father Time begins to knock on the door.

The same cannot be said on the women's circuit because Swiatek has largely become the undisputable woman to beat in every tournament. She's topped the year-end rankings in each of the last two years. Nevertheless, this historic moment suggests that the era of the old guard is over.