ATP Rankings Update after Rome Open: Class Carlos Alcaraz regains World No.2 spot after heroic triumph

While Hamburg and Geneva are on the docket this week, the Rome Open hypothetically is the final stop en route to the French Open and it was Carlos Alcaraz who emerged in today's ATP Rankings Update as the main winner.

Alcaraz is back up to World No.2 with Alexander Zverev going from hero to zero as he once held the pole position spot for World No.1 but now is World No.3. Albeit he is very unlikely to get caught with the top three very much pulling away with it.

Zverev is on 7,285 points and is now over 1,000 points behind Alcaraz after not defending Rome. He has taken a wildcard into Hamburg this week despite previously shirking the event's scheduling. He slated the fact that it was due to take place the day before Roland Garros but changed his tune slightly when he arrived.

But Alcaraz is now on 8,850 points albeit his next tricky test comes in the coming few weeks. He has to defend Roland Garros and Wimbledon so any slip up could see either Sinner strengthen or Zverev regain the spot. So an interesting time.

But given that Fritz is on 4,625 points, none of the top three have to worry about being overtaken realistically. Jack Draper is next up and is very much en route to the top four himself. He is a mere 15 points behind Fritz and has had a great clay court season. He will also head into grass with the impetus after Roland Garros.

Albeit with new pressure given he becomes the main poster boy for British tennis with Andy Murray gone and Emma Raducanu on her way back but not the only player particularly to root for in the eyes of the British tabloid press anymore.

So that will be another storyline to look out for. Elsewhere Lorenzo Musetti is into the top eight for the first time in his career. The Italian has been a superstar of the clay court summer and amid Jannik Sinner's recent ban ending, he has been the Italian to root for. He enters the top eight seeds for Roland Garros and this is pivotal for both him and also further up with Alcaraz.

Musetti now avoids Draper, Ruud or Djokovic and he snatches that spot last minute from Alex de Minaur. While further up Alcaraz hypothetically cannot meet Sinner until the final now which is both a sigh of relief for the players but also for the organisers who will hope for a repeat of yesterday's dramatic showdown.

Going further down, Jakub Mensik is up two spots into a New Career High helped slightly by Stefanos Tsitsipas who is 20th now and is in trouble and Tomas Machac sliding down. Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard ahead of the French Open was a leading mover.

He sits in 32nd up four spots. While Alexander Bublik also won a title in Turin on the ATP Challenger Tour and shielded the blow of plummeting the week before. He is up 25 spots to World No.51.

Alejandro Tabilo also in not playing Rome this time the site of his triumph over Novak Djokovic last year also plummets. He falls down 19 spots to World No.61. Zhizhen Zhang too is down 26 spots to World No.81.

While unlike the WTA, it is less so of a changing of the guard with big names from previous years now falling instead of players who have a few good months it shows the fine line between performing well in an event to not backing it up.

Tabilo, Zhang and priorly Nicolas Jarry have shown that in recent weeks and it is very hard to get back from when you do manage to plummet.