ATP Live Rankings Update: Sinner looking to close gap to Alcaraz, Zverev back into top three as Mensik set to plummet

All eyes in the tennis world are on the current proceedings occurring at the Miami Open as week two commences. Some may also have half an eye on the state of the rankings with a whole heap of points having been deducted at the start of the event due to its Masters 1000 status. Some players have failed to capitalise on the opportunity while others around them rise, making for a whole host of interesting storylines.

Carlos Alcaraz began the year faltless. Now with two defeats in his past three matches have left him vulnerable to an attack from behind. Only Jannik Sinner can get close to the Spaniard in the short term, and that is if he continues from his Indian Wells title charge in the dame vein of form. He is not defending anything until the Rome Open, which includes nothing in Florida. He currently sits just over 2000 points behind the world number one but the Sunshine double will see him go to a 1,190 points deficit.

Miles behind, Alexander Zverev has a chance to make the world number three spot his own again with a deep run at the Miami Open. Thanks to last year's runner-up Novak Djokovic pulling out, the 650 points collected see him fall to fourth. The likes of Lorenzo Musetti and Alex de Minaur had the chance to close the gap to the 24-time Grand Slam champion, but injury and defeat at the first hurdle respectively sees them remain in fifth and sixth.

Felix Auger-Aliassime could capitalise on this. If he reaches the quarterfinal stage, the Canadian will hop into sixth. Taylor Fritz is currently set to lose 300 points, leaving him vulnerable from attack behind. This will not be from fellow American Ben Shelton whose second round exit marks the end of a frustrating Sunshine swing, and a huge opportunity missed.

This could leave the door open for an inform Daniil Medvedev to strike. A couple of wins and the Indian Wells runner-up could see himself in the tightly-knit pack from fifth to 10th.

Players ranked from 11th to 17th have all failed to reach the last-32 stage. That is aside from Karen Khachanov who was defeated in the third round. This has the feel of an opportunity missed to gain some points on their close rivals. From Alexander Bublik and Casper Ruud looking to make it back into the top 10 to Khachanov, Andrey Rublev and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina peering over their shoulder.

A couple of Italians have reached career highs. Flavio Cobolli and Luciano Darderi will leave Miami early but currently sitting in 13th and 17th respectively after climbing one position.

This could all change if the likes of Jiri Lehecka, Frances Tiafoe and Francisco Cerundolo make more headway in the tournament. Valentin Vacherot is closing in on a debut in the top 20 while Tommy Paul quietly looks to make more progress.

Jakub Mensik was on the receiving end of a huge drop in the rankings. The reigning Miami Open champion plummeted after 1000 ranking points swiftly came tumbling off. 50 of them have been claimed back, but there are still 950 to go for the young Czech as he looks to continue his fine form in Florida. A 13-place drop sees him sit in 26th for the time being.

Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Corentin Moutet both jump up two slots to 30th and 31st. More French involvement in the tournament sees their hopes lie with Arthur Fils and Ugo Humbert. The race to become French number one will be an enthralling one to watch over the coming weeks. Fils has a lot of points to defend, including the 100 still set to come off from last year's quarterfinal run. The current number one, Arthur Rinderknech, has since been knocked out.

Despite defeating the world number one, Sebastian Korda has still got work to do if he is to get back into the top 30. Similar to Fils, a last-eight appearance last year puts pressure on him to get a decent result. No pressure for Terence Atmane whose climb up the rankings continues. A 40-point swing boosts him up seven places to a new career high of 46th. Former US Open champion Marin Cilic has fallen four places but a win can see him shoot back up into the top 50, possibly ahead of Kamil Majchrzak with the Pole looking to debut there.

Alexander Shevchenko is the lowest ranked player in the top 100 to still be in the Miami Open tournament. An eight-position climb to 76th is his reward for a solid week out. One more win and he will find himself in 70th.

Quentin Halys is a man on a mission to get back in the top 100. Currently in the last-32, one more win will comfortably do that but he sticks in 107th for now. Further down, an incredible run for Spanish qualifier Martin Landaluce adds 113 points and 28 places to his ranking, sitting in 123rd. In the last-16, a quarterfinal appearance would put him on the edge of debuting in the top 100.

(as per livetennis.eu)