{"id":1775782,"date":"2026-02-17T11:15:05","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T08:15:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1775782"},"modified":"2026-02-17T11:15:05","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T08:15:05","slug":"qatar-open-how-jannik-sinner-can-close-gap-to-carlos-alcaraz-in-world-no-1-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1775782","title":{"rendered":"Qatar Open: How Jannik Sinner can close gap to Carlos Alcaraz in world No 1 battle"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"ps-article-content rounded-lg lg:mt-5 lg:border lg:border-card lg:bg-card lg:shadow-primary\">\n<header>\n<h1 class=\"py-4 text-xl font-normal text-title sm:text-2xl\">Qatar Open: How Jannik Sinner can close gap to Carlos Alcaraz in world No 1 battle<\/h1>\n<div class=\"my-2 flex items-center justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/author\/oli-dickson-jefford\" class=\"text-sm font-normal !text-author\"><br \/>\n                            Oli Dickson Jefford                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <time class=\"ml-3 text-sm font-normal text-info md:ml-4\" datetime=\"17 Feb 2026 11:15 AM\" data-ps-date=\"17 Feb 2026 11:15 AM\" data-ps-datetime=\"1771326905\"><br \/>\n                            17 Feb 2026 11:15 AM                        <\/time>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"hidden justify-end space-x-4 text-xl sm:flex sm:!opacity-100\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-features\/qatar-open-how-jannik-sinner-can-close-gap-carlos-alcaraz-world-no-1-battle\" class=\"!text-info hover:!text-brand\" aria-label=\"Share to facebook\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <a 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world No 1 battle\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/button>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5 border-b border-page\"><\/div>\n<section>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5\">\n<figure class=\"aspect-h-9 aspect-w-16 relative\">\n                                        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1320\" height=\"742\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"w-full h-full object-cover object-center !my-0\" src=\"https:\/\/d2me2qg8dfiw8u.cloudfront.net\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Alcaraz-Sinner-1320x742.jpg\" alt=\"Pictured L-R: Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.\">                <\/figure><figcaption class=\"flex items-center space-x-3 border-b border-mobile-caption px-3 lg:border-caption\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-1.5 break-words !text-xs !text-content\">\n                                ATP Tour stars Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.                            <\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<div class=\"ciam-article-t365\">\n<p>Carlos Alcaraz has a commanding lead at the very top of the ATP Rankings, though Jannik Sinner will be eying up the opportunity to chase down his leading rival in the coming months.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/us-open\/carlos-alcaraz-jannik-sinner-prize-money-ranking-points-usopen\">World No 1 Alcaraz initially regained the top spot from Sinner after his victory in the US Open final last September<\/a>, and \u2014 after briefly losing the top spot in the tail end of 2025 \u2014 extended his lead following his Australian Open triumph earlier this month.<\/p>\n<p>However, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/news\/jannik-sinner-banned-from-tennis\">with Sinner having no points to defend until May after his three-month suspension in 2025<\/a>, the Italian now has the chance to close the gap on the Spaniard.<\/p>\n<p>The world No 1 ranking cannot change hands at the Qatar Open this week, though this starts the period where world No 2 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/jannik-sinner\">Sinner<\/a> can begin to gain some ground.<\/p>\n<h2>As it stands<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/carlos-alcaraz\">Alcaraz<\/a> is spending a 59th week as the world No 1, already the thirteenth-highest week tally of the 29 men to occupy the top spot since the rankings were introduced in 1973.<\/p>\n<p>The Spaniard currently holds a staggering 13,150 points in the ATP Rankings, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/when-will-carlos-alcaraz-play-next-confirming-withdrawal-post-australian-open-event\">though he was on 13,650 points before withdrawing from his Rotterdam Open title defence, dropping 500 points as a result<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Sinner is currently significantly back on 10,300 points,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/australian-open\/novak-djokovic-lost-for-words-rolling-back-years-end-jannik-sinners-title-defence\"> having dropped 1,200 points following his Australian Open semi-final defeat to Novak Djokovic<\/a> \u2014 after entering the tournament as the reigning champion.<\/p>\n<p>Sinner defeated Tomas Machac 6-1, 6-4 to start his Qatar Open campaign on Monday, and the world No 2 remains on 10,300 points in the live rankings.<\/p>\n<h2>Tennis News<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/atp-qatar-open-withdrawal-list-novak-djokovic-among-three-top-10-stars\">ATP Qatar Open: Withdrawal list as Novak Djokovic among three top 10 stars to pull out<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/atp-tour\/atp-rankings-alcaraz-dominant-de-minaur-edge-closer-to-top-five-cilic-18-pinnington-jones-43\">ATP Rankings: Alcaraz dominant, De Minaur edge closer to top five, Cilic +18, Pinnington Jones +43<\/a><\/p>\n<p>He now has the chance to make up ground \u2014 though he could also fall further back from Alcaraz.<\/p>\n<h2>Qatar Open ramifications<\/h2>\n<p>Sinner\u2019s suspension came in just before the Qatar Open last year, meaning he has zero points to defend at the event, and will earn ranking points for every win he picks up at the tournament from this point.<\/p>\n<p>Alcaraz starts his campaign against Arthur Rinderknech on Tuesday, and he will be looking to better his quarter-final run from 2025.<\/p>\n<p>After his defeat to Jiri Lehecka in the last eight in 2025, the Spaniard has 100 points to defend at the event.<\/p>\n<p>While that puts him under a little pressure, he also has a significant chance to boost his ranking points tally with a deep run at the ATP 500 event.<\/p>\n<p>With 500 points on offer for winning the title and just 100 points to defend, Alcaraz would hold 13,550 points if he were to win the title \u2014 a result that would also see him marginally extend his lead over the world No 2.<\/p>\n<p>If Sinner were to win the title, he would hold 10,750 points when the ATP Rankings update next Monday.<\/p>\n<p>Should Sinner win the title and beat Alcaraz in the final, the gap between the two in the rankings would be 2,670 points, down from the current gap of 2,850 points.<\/p>\n<p>He would still be significantly behind Alcaraz, regardless of the Spaniard\u2019s result, though it would set in place a fascinating battle between the two in the coming months.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Jannik Sinner potential ranking points from Qatar Open<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Champion<\/strong>: 10,750 points<br \/>\n<strong>Runner-up<\/strong>: 10,580 points<br \/>\n<strong>Semi-final<\/strong>: 10,450 points<br \/>\n<strong>Quarter-final<\/strong>: 10,350 points<br \/>\n<strong>Round 2<\/strong>: 10,300 points<\/p>\n<p><strong>Carlos Alcaraz potential ranking points from Qatar Open<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Champion<\/strong>: 13,550 points<br \/>\n<strong>Runner-up<\/strong>: 13,420 points<br \/>\n<strong>Semi-final<\/strong>: 13,250 points<br \/>\n<strong>Quarter-final<\/strong>: 13,150 points<br \/>\n<strong>Round 2<\/strong>: 13,100 points<br \/>\n<strong>Round 1<\/strong>: 13,050 points<\/p>\n<p><strong>Want more from Tennis365? Add us as <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\">a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for tennis coverage you can trust.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Read Next<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/carlos-alcaraz-jannik-sinner-qatar-open-appearance-fees-2026-revealed\">Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner\u2019s eye-watering\u00a0Qatar Open appearance fees revealed<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"kwizly-quiz kwizly-W32Vge\" data-nosnippet=\"\" data-quiz-type=\"poll|mpu\"><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Qatar Open: How Jannik Sinner can close gap to Carlos Alcaraz in world No 1 battle Oli Dickson Jefford 17 Feb 2026 11:15 AM ATP Tour stars Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. Carlos Alcaraz has a commanding lead at the very top of the ATP Rankings, though Jannik Sinner will be eying up the opportunity [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,249],"class_list":["post-1775782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-tennis365-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1775782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1775782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1775782\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1775782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1775782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1775782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}