Carlos Alcaraz set to stay world number two despite losing 3000 points from upcoming Rome and Roland Garros title defences

Carlos Alcaraz has suffered a devastating wrist injury, meaning that he will not be able to compete in the Rome Open or Roland Garros, missing the opportunities to defend the titles from last year. While there are a lot of points coming off his tally, he is safe as world number two thanks to the ginormous gap he has built up over the rest of the field.

The Spaniard was on a roll last year on clay. He won the Monte-Carlo Masters before reaching the final of the Barcelona Open, losing to Holger Rune. He skipped the Madrid Open through injury before defeating the returning Jannik Sinner in the finals of the Rome Open and Roland Garros.

This tremendous form meant that, after a dodgy Sunshine swing, he was left vulnerable to an attack by the Italian. This came possibly sooner than anticipated after Sinner defeated him in their first ATP matchup of the year in Monaco, ticking off another Masters 1000 title from his collection.

Alcaraz was knocked down to world number two but had the chance to get back on track in Barcelona. This is where his clay swing has gone terribly wrong. He felt some pain in his wrist while facing off against Finnish qualifier Otto Virtanen. He continued and won the match, but subsequently pulled out of the next round showdown against Tomas Machac.

The signs were not good, as, for the second consecutive season, the Spanish fans in Madrid would be cruelly prevented from seeing the seven-time Grand Slam champion take to the court. It would get even worse after the scans. Not wanting to risk damage anymore, Alcaraz opted to sit out the rest of the clay season, hoping for a smooth return to grass.

He released a statement on Instagram confirming the news. "After the results of the tests carried out today, we have decided that the most prudent thing to do is to be cautious and not participate in Rome or Roland Garros as we wait to evaluate the progress so we can decide when to return to the court. This is a difficult time for me, but I am sure we will come out of it stronger."

For most players, losing a total of 3000 points in the space of a few weeks would be detrimental towards their precious ranking status. It would see them tumble sharply down the order into the abyss, making a period like this a hugely crucial one.

However, Alcaraz is different. He has amassed so many ranking points in the last year that this will only be a slight dent in his tally, albeit the gap to Sinner will possibly grow if the 24-year-old continues his rampant winning streak.

The 3000 points, which will be swiped away from the grand total, will take his overall points sum from 12,960 right now to 9,960 after the French Open. 1000 points were won at the Masters 1000 event in the Italian capital, while the other 2000 were awarded thanks to that incredible comeback in that thrilling final at Roland Garros last year against Sinner.

Nevertheless, no matter what happens, Alcaraz will be the world number two by the end of it. The person who can get the closest is world number three Alexander Zverev. The German sits on 5,255 ranking points and is competing in a number of tournaments in a short period of time.

If he wins back-to-back Masters 1000 events in Rome, the 500 tournament in Hamburg and breaks his Grand Slam streak at Roland Garros, a grand total of 4,500 will be earned. With the points coming off his tally added to the equation from last year, the highest number he can climb to is 8,955. That is still over 1000 points off Alcaraz, showing the seismic gap in quality between the top two and the rest of the field.

First up for Zverev is Madrid. He reached the fourth round last year, meaning that if he defeats Jakub Mensik, he will gain points on his tally for reaching the quarterfinal. Exits followed in the quarterfinal of Rome, the last-16 of Hamburg and the quarterfinal of Roland Garros. There is an opportunity for Zverev to close the gap, but whatever he does, it will not be good enough to surpass the former world number one.