It's Sincaraz for the Top Ranking Sunday in Monte Carlo

[jimlosaltos]

Surprise!

Not. The rest of the ATP combined still can't slay the Sincarazian beast. Tomorrow, for the 20th time in a row when both are entered in a tournament, one of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz will win. Whoever does will be the world number one next week. As I type, the two are tied at 66 weeks each as world number one. I hadn't realized that all but one of Jannik's total comes from a single streak, a streak broken not by a loss but by his suspension for, per the ITF, accidental exposure to an over-the-counter drug in such small quality it had "no effect" on his performance. The last time a player other than Sinner or Alcaraz won when both were entered was at the 2024 Madrid Open (won by Andrey Rublev).

Let's see if this table will paste in ... worked !

Total Career Weeks at No. 1 (as of April 8, 2026)
.........................Weeks/ Longest streak

Carlos Alcaraz	66	22
Jannik Sinner	66	65

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Sinner is coming in red hot and in great form. He said his serve needed some work, which is frightening since I believe he's only been broken once in this tournament. Look at today's semifinal stats. Playing against the world's third ranked player, highly ranked on both service and return, Sinner won a higher percentage behind his second serve than Alexander Zverev managed on his formidable first. Zverev must be embarrassed that he couldn't win half his first serves.

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Sinner is the only player I can recall reaching a 300 rating on the ATP's service performance stats. Imagine if he can get that serving fine tuned

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But Alcaraz presents a match-up problem, able to pull Sinner wide off court, and go on offense from anywhere. The Spaniard leads their H2H 10-6, but La Carrota won their most recent meeting in Turin, at the ATP Finals in straight sets. With today's semifinal win over Valentin Vacherot, Carlos has passed 300 match wins.



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[jimlosaltos]

Is V2 a Monegasque, Cinderfella or Houdini?

Despite losing today, Valentin Vacherot's remarkable run continues. You might recall that V2 became the lowest ranked player ever to win a Masters 1000 in the Shanghai Masters last fall. But he's no one-hit wonder. He made the quarterfinals in Paris, and this week he notched yet another win over a top 10 player defeating Alex de Minaur in the Monte Carlo quarterfinals despite facing 16 breakpoints and having to save 13 of those. What makes his run all the more remarkable is that his breakthrough is coming in his late 20s. It's almost unheard of for an ATP player to make their first appearnce in the top 100s at 27 years old.

Big serve, big forehand. To my eye, Vacherot has an unconventional forehand, but I've only seen it in real time and in long shots. Seems to have some peculiar, slapping motion that would require tremendous forearm strength. If he keeps winning maybe we'll get some slomo video of that shot.

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noun
plural noun: Mon?gasques

1. a native or inhabitant of Monaco.

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