Carlos Alcaraz celebrates ranking achievement ahead of French Open seedings: 'It's great to be world No. 1'

ByEurosport

Published 13/05/2023 at 19:21 GMT

Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz will return to No. 1 in the men's world rankings when they are updated on May 22, ensuring he will be the No. 1 seed for Roland-Garros at the end of the month too ahead of Novak Djokovic. The move up the rankings comes off the back of a straight-sets victory over Albert Ramos-Vinalos in his first-round debut at the Italian Open on Saturday afternoon in Rome.

Carlos Alcaraz celebrated that “it’s great to be world No. 1” after beating Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-4 6-1 in his Italian Open debut on Saturday.

Alcaraz was impressive yet again as he beat his compatriot in the first round, and the points earned with the victory mean that he will be the new world No. 1 when the standings are next announced, on May 22.

That means he will be the No. 1 seed for the upcoming Grand Slam event at Roland-Garros, the French Open, in Paris later this month.

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The 20-year-old recently left his teenage years and he has enjoyed recent success in Spain, claiming the trophies in both Barcelona and Madrid. He now has 12 back-to-back wins in matches, and 20 out of his last 21 matches on clay.

The win against Ramos-Vinolas had added symbolism as he beat the Spaniard in Rio de Janeiro three years ago in his first ATP Tour win.

"It's great you know to be world No. 1, you know, in Roland-Garros, in a Grand Slam, it's something crazy,” Alcaraz said of the victory over his 35-year-old opponent.

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“I couldn't believe it years ago. I am really happy, but for me, it doesn't change too much to be world No. 1 or the No. 2 seed.

"I just focus on the tournament, on my game, on every match, and that's something that I try not to think about. But of course, it's something great to be No. 1."

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