Djokovic-Alcaras, Roland Garros skirmish ‘Roma Showdown’

Djokovic (35, Serbia), who has not been able to participate in the tournament due to an elbow injury, is ahead of the ‘Rome War’ with the new Alkaras (20, Spain), who is looking to overtake the top ranker.

Men’s Professional Tennis (ATP) Ranking No. 1 Novak Djokovic and No. 2 Carlos Alcaras were named side by side on the list of participants for the ‘2023 Rome Open’, which opens in Rome, Italy on the 10th (local time).

The Rome Open is the last ATP 1000 series event to be held ahead of the season’s second major tournament, the French Open (Roland Garros), which will be held at the end of this month.

The biggest concern in this tournament is, of course, whether Djokovic and Alkaras will face off in the final. The confrontation between Djokovic and Alkaras, who received the 1st and 2nd seeds, respectively, will only be successful if both safely advance to the finals.

Djokovic has lifted the trophy six times in his career in this tournament alone. Djokovic, who won last year by defeating Stefano Tsitsipas (24, Greece) 2-0 in the final, will defend his title.

However, it is unlikely that Djokovic’s plan will come true easily. It is because the challenge of Alkaras, who is sounding the unstoppable victory this season, is formidable.

Alkaras, who emerged as a ‘Nadal successor’ by reporting his first victory on the ATP tour at the Croatian Open held on clay court in July 2021, when he was only 18 years old, won five tournaments, including the US Open, the last major tournament last year, and ranked first. The season ended in 1st place.토토사이트

Alkaras lost the first place in the rankings to Djokovic, who successfully defended his title by not participating in the Australian Open in January, but fired a signal to regain the first place by winning his first title of the season at the Argentine Open in February.

Following this, he won the BNP Paribas Open in March, the Barcelona Open in April, and the Madrid Open last week, winning four victories this season.

Regardless of whether the two will face off in the finals, it is highly likely that Alkaras will rise to the top of the rankings again after this tournament.

Djokovic has to win to keep his current ranking of 6775 points, but Alkaros (6770 points), who is only 5 points behind, will get 10 points and reach 6780 points even if he only advances to the round of 32. Therefore, even if Djokovic succeeds in defending his title at the Rome Open, Alkaras, who skips the first round (round of 128) with a bye, will rise to the top of the rankings if he wins just one game in the round of 64.