Alcaraz and an utopian challenge as world number 1

Diego Jiménez Rubio | 10 Dec 2025 | 09.00

Carlos Alcaraz, challenge as number 1. Photo: gettyimages

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Finishing the season as number 1 in the ATP ranking has been a great success for Carlos Alcaraz, aware that defending it over the next few months will not be easy. The challenge becomes legendary if we aim to see the Murcian among the few tennis players who have been able to stay at the top for an entire season consecutively.

The duopoly that dominates the tennis world with an iron fist leaves little room for prolonged empires at the top of the ATP ranking. Both Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner understand that accumulating many consecutive weeks as world number 1 will be challenging with each other's opposition. However, the Spaniard will start 2026 in that position, and it is necessary to review which other tennis players in history were able to stay at the top for a whole year. Illustrious names season a list that also includes notable absences, and joining it at the end of the year will not be easy for the Murcian.

Alcaraz has a slight lead over Sinner, who will have three months without defending points

Can you imagine what it must be like to stay 52 consecutive weeks as number 1 in the ATP ranking? A total of 10 have achieved it, but only 6 of them did it in a natural calendar year. The official tennis ranking system allows no respite, with this points defense system counting only the last 52 weeks of competition. This sport is not only of utmost physical and mental demand but also has no memory. Any misstep results in a loss of points, so staying a whole year as the best on the planet is not straightforward.

For that, it is essential to start with a significant points margin, not have a particularly dangerous competitor, and have had a very solid previous year without great winning streaks that are hard to match. None of this applies to Carlos Alcaraz. Moreover, his immediate pursuer, Jannik Sinner, not only trails by a very reachable distance of 550 points but will have three months where every triumph gained will add points to his tally due to his prolonged absence in 2025 due to suspension.

It is undeniable that the Murcian will have a very tough time becoming the seventh player in history to complete a season without losing the number 1 spot in the ATP ranking for a single week. What is unsettling is that this exciting and closely fought rivalry between him and Sinner makes it difficult to envision an entire season without alternation between them at the top of the ranking. Legends like McEnroe, Nadal, Agassi, Borg, Edberg, Courier, or Wilander could not achieve this in their time, significantly narrowing down this privileged list.

Tennis players who held the number 1 spot in the ATP ranking for an entire season

Jimmy Connors: 3 (1975, 1976, and 1978)
Roger Federer: 3 (2005, 2006, and 2007)
Ivan Lendl: 2 (1986 and 1987)
Pete Sampras 2 (1994 and 1997)
Novak Djokovic 2 (2015 and 2021)
Lleyton Hewitt 1 (2002)

Perhaps the most remarkable case is Lleyton Hewitt, who took advantage of the period between Sampras' end and Agassi's inconsistency, before Federer rose to dominance. The Australian surpassed the mentioned André, Safin, Ferrero, and Moyà who made up the top 5 that season. Regarding the staggering superiority of Novak Djokovic in 2015, he had a lead of over 7,000 points over Murray, and in 2021, he outperformed Medvedev in a year that could have been even more historic had he not lost the Olympic final and the US Open final.

Regarding Pete Sampras and his two years with a full set of weeks as the best in the world, they must be valued for the fierce opposition he faced from Agassi in 1994, as well as from Rafter and Chang in 1997. In the case of Ivan Lendl, he deserves every possible praise as one of the three players who consecutively achieved this for two years, keeping legends like Becker, Wilander, Edberg, or Connors at bay, making the competition fierce.

Jimmy Connors' case has been historically controversial due to scoring discrepancies. Subsequent investigations concluded that errors prevented Guillermo Vilas from being seen as number 1, despite achieving the necessary results. This concerns 1975 and 1976. In 1978, he surpassed Borg, which is highly commendable.

Turning to Roger Federer's case, one can only look back nostalgically and fondly on those years of his blatant dominance that elevated tennis to an art form during three seasons where only Nadal could pose a strong challenge to him in major events. During this time, there was a streak of 237 consecutive weeks at the top of the list, interrupted by Rafa's victory at Wimbledon 2008, which pushed him off the summit in August of that year.

In conclusion, it is worth noting that Carlos Alcaraz will have a tough time joining this group of men who made regularity and consistency their great virtue, taking advantage of their competitors' weaknesses and their utmost inspiration to achieve memorable feats. Jannik Sinner does not seem inclined to remain without touching the number 1 spot in the ATP ranking throughout 2026, but anything can happen in a very long and unpredictable tennis season.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Alcaraz y un reto utópico como número 1 del mundo