Jannik Sinner big winner after closest rivals in ATP rankings suffer early defeats at Miami Open

Italy’s Jannik Sinner continues to have a great time despite not playing professional tennis. The 23-year-old, who is regarded as one of the best players currently playing in men’s tennis in the singles category, has been out of action after agreeing on a deal with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for a three-month suspension following his two positive dope tests last year.

With that ban in place, Sinner is set to return to the court just days before the start of the Rome Masters in May, which will give him time to prepare for the second Grand Slam of the year — the French Open. As soon as it was announced that the three-time Grand Slam winner would stay out of action for a considerable amount of time, many believed that it would give other players a realistic chance to dethrone him from the top of the ATP rankings.

However, that is now unlikelier after a series of disappointing results for players competing to secure the top spot in the ATP rankings. One of his closest rivals, Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, who is currently ranked third in the rankings, suffered a second-round exit from the ongoing Miami Open to David Goffin with a score of 5-7, 6-4, 6-3. That result ended the Spaniard’s hope of securing the top spot before the return of Sinner. That is because, before the start of the Miami Open, Alcaraz had to win three out of his next four ATP events and play in the final of all events to gather enough rating points to secure the top spot.

Not only Alcaraz but other top-10 players have faced similar fates. On Saturday, Britain’s Jack Draper lost in the second round of the Miami Open. On Friday, Russia’s Daniil Medvedev suffered a second-round exit from the competition. After those results, the only candidate remaining who can dethrone Sinner from the top is Germany’s Alexander Zverev. However, the reigning world number two came into the Miami Open on the back of suffering defeats early in his last two events, and therefore, it will be interesting to see whether the 27-year-old will have enough in his tank to go all the way and keep his hopes alive of becoming the world number one.