{"id":32924,"date":"2025-03-14T02:45:45","date_gmt":"2025-03-14T02:45:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=32924"},"modified":"2025-03-14T02:45:45","modified_gmt":"2025-03-14T02:45:45","slug":"carlos-alcaraz-slammed-with-major-criticism-for-failing-to-capitalize-despite-jannik-sinners-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=32924","title":{"rendered":"Carlos Alcaraz Slammed With Major Criticism for Failing To Capitalize Despite Jannik Sinner\u2019s Ban"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dom-traversal_domPTag__RMrin\">Jannik Sinner\u00a0started the year by defending his Australian Open title against\u00a0Alexander Zverev\u00a0in straight sets. However, the Italian hit a roadblock as he got hit with a three-month suspension for doping violations from 2024. Talk about highs and lows. Now, the world No. 1 is set to miss four Masters 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells, Miami, Monte-Carlo, and Madrid. He\u2019ll return just in time for the Italian Open in May and then head into the French Open. But will this break cost him his dominance? Not everyone thinks so, as Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz have yet to close the gap.<\/p>\n<div id=\"scroll-1\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"dom-traversal_domPTag__RMrin\">Former Italian pro Paolo Lorenzi isn\u2019t buying the idea that this gap will shake things up. \u201c<em>Neither Zverev nor Alcaraz had the necessary continuity last year to follow Sinner,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0Lorenzi said as\u00a0reported by Spanish publication,\u00a0<em>We Love Tennis<\/em>.<\/p>\n<div id=\"scroll-2\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"dom-traversal_domPTag__RMrin\">\u201c<em>A gap like today\u2019s is not made up in three months. The difficulties observed may come from the fact that both try to progress quickly, but such transformations take time.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>His point? Sinner\u2019s rivals may not be consistent enough to capitalize on his absence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dom-traversal_domPTag__RMrin\">The Italian tennis star\u2019s 2024 season was nothing short of legendary. A 73-6 record, two Grand Slam titles, three Masters 1000 trophies, and a win at the ATP Finals. Oh, and let\u2019s not forget\u2014he\u2019s been world No. 1 since June, dethroning none other than Novak Djokovic. Right now, he\u2019s sitting comfortably with 11,330 points in the PIF ATP Rankings. Zverev is way behind with 8,135, and\u00a0Carlos Alcaraz\u00a0is even further back at 7,510.<\/p>\n<div class=\"engagement\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"quiz_flex__u01wS\">\n<p class=\"dom-traversal_domPTag__RMrin\">And Zverev has been on a bumpy ride lately. Since making the Australian Open final, his form has taken a nosedive. The German has played four events since Melbourne and hasn\u2019t been able to clinch any titles from them. His latest disappointment? A shocking second-round exit at Indian Wells, courtesy of Tallon Griekspoor.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"_adr_abp_container\" data-section=\"27c1522a4595c00c04bae23c5f42d92d\" data-packetid=\"00000001-eaf976bc-da15-461c-bb92-501ff611d977\" data-render-time=\"1741920221219\">\n<p class=\"dom-traversal_domPTag__RMrin\">Alcaraz, on the other hand, has had mixed results. The Australian Open saw him reach the quarterfinals, but he ultimately lost to Novak Djokovic. He regained his form by winning the Rotterdam Open, but stumbled into the Qatar Open quarterfinals. Still, he\u2019s on a solid run at Indian Wells. The Spaniard bulldozed past 14th seed Grigor Dimitrov with a dominant 6-1, 6-1 win. Before that, he cruised past Denis Shapovalov and Quentin Halys.<\/p>\n<div class=\"related-posts-new_related-posts-es__dppnO\" data-source=\"false\">\n<div class=\"related-posts-new_container-div__f8NIV\">\n<h3 class=\"related-posts-new_title-text__iTXed\">Jannik Sinner\u2019s Preferential Treatment Amidst Doping Saga Outrightly Rejected by ITIA\u2019s Director With a Bold Stance<\/h3>\n<div class=\"related-posts-new_icon-div__ZsPSG\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"image-loader_es-image-loader-aspect-ratio__X6IHP \"><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"img-tag-node-img-loader-0\" src=\"https:\/\/image-cdn.essentiallysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/carlos-alcaraz-7.jpg\" \/><\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"dom-traversal_domPTag__RMrin\">He\u2019s almost 4,000 points behind Sinner, but with the Italian out, this could be his golden chance to close the gap. The 21-year-old tennis sensation, though, isn\u2019t stressing over rankings.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"dom-traversal_domNewH2__H0HKD\">Carlos Alcaraz is \u2018not thinking\u2019 about the top spot<\/h2>\n<div id=\"scroll-3\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"dom-traversal_domPTag__RMrin\">Carlos Alcaraz is laser-focused on defending his title at the Indian Wells tournament. The ranking is far from his mind. \u201c<em>Well, I\u2019m not thinking really much about recovering the No. 1 in two or three months,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0the Spaniard said after his latest win.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dom-traversal_domPTag__RMrin\">\u201c<em>I mean, that could make me feel extra pressure with that. I\u2019m just focused on every day and every tournament, because if I\u2019m doing the right things, if I\u2019m just focused on every day and the things I have to improve, the result is gonna be there and then the No. 1 is going to come after.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>But rankings aren\u2019t the only thing at stake.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dom-traversal_domPTag__RMrin\">If Alcaraz wins Indian Wells again,\u00a0he\u2019ll join an elite club.\u00a0Only Roger Federer (2004-06) and Novak Djokovic (2014-16) have won three consecutive singles titles at the tournament. That\u2019s the kind of company any player would want to be in.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dom-traversal_domPTag__RMrin\">His next challenge is a quarterfinal clash with Francisco Cerundolo. The Argentine trails 0-1 in their head-to-head, with Alcaraz dismantling him at Queen\u2019s Club last year. Can Cerundolo put up a fight this time? Meanwhile, Jannik Sinner\u2019s suspension has shaken up the tour, but the real question is: Will anyone take advantage of it?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jannik Sinner\u00a0started the year by defending his Australian Open title against\u00a0Alexander Zverev\u00a0in straight sets. However, the Italian hit a roadblock as he got hit with a three-month&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32925,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tennis"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Carlos Alcaraz Slammed With Major Criticism for Failing To Capitalize Despite Jannik Sinner\u2019s Ban - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=32924\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Carlos Alcaraz Slammed With Major Criticism for Failing To Capitalize Despite Jannik Sinner\u2019s Ban - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jannik Sinner\u00a0started the year by defending his Australian Open title against\u00a0Alexander Zverev\u00a0in straight sets. 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