Carlos Alcaraz had a weird 2024. Sure, he won two more Grand Slam titles (the French Open and Wimbledon), but he won just four titles overall. He was also eclipsed by Jannik Sinner in the second half of the year as Alcaraz plummeted to No. 3.
"Plummeted" is used there because Alcaraz is special. For some players, reaching No. 3 is something they might tell their grandchildren. The Spaniard, however, isn't just any player, and he is certainly not the third-best player on the ATP. He is better than that.
He has once again proved that over the last month, with only a handful of days until 2025 Wimbledon begins. While Sinner is ranked No. 1 and Alcaraz has moved back to No. 2, the Spaniard is reestablishing himself as the best player in tennis.
Carlos Alcaraz has reestablished himself as the best player on the ATP tour
Start with the fact that while Sinner literally beat anyone else he played on tour from the beginning of the Cincinnati Open last August until the end of the French Open at the beginning of June, a span of 54 matches, except for Alcaraz. Sinner was 51-3 during that span, but all three losses were to the Spaniard, and each time Sinner and Alcaraz played, Alcaraz won.
There is a strong argument to be made that Sinner is still better than Alcaraz on hard courts, but that can be rebutted by fans of the Spaniard because Alcaraz has won the last five meetings between himself and the Italian, and two of those matches have come on hard courts.
In the span of a little over a month since Sinner returned from a three-month suspension for two failed drug tests in March 2024, the Italian has played in three tournaments, and lost two of them in the finals to Alcaraz. The Italian Open and the French Open are both played on clay.
The Spaniard has been far more successful on grass courts than the Italian throughout their career, but there is no better example of how much better Alcaraz is on grass than Sinner being bounced out of the Terra Wortmann Open in the round of 16 by Alexander Bublik, the only other player to defeat Sinner since Cincinnati, while Alcaraz was on his way to winning the Queen's Club tournament.
The Italian has overall played well since his return in early May, even though he hasn't taken a title, but at the same time, the Spaniard has been winning every match since the Barcelona Open in April, a streak of 19 matches in a row.
Sinner doesn't look ready to win Wimbledon. Alcaraz has won Wimbledon in each of the last two years. The Italian is still ranked No. 1, but Alcaraz has proven himself to be the best player on the ATP over the last month.