What Carlos Alcaraz's loss in Paris means in his battle with Jannik Sinner for No. 1

There was a stunner at the Rolex Paris Masters on Tuesday night, as Carlos Alcaraz suffered a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 defeat to Cam Norrie in the second round of the Masters 1000 event.

Not only was Alcaraz on a 17-match winning streak at Masters 1000 events going into the match, but he also hadn't even lost before a final at any event since Miami, at least reaching the final at nine consecutive events in Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Rome, Roland Garros, Queen's Club, Wimbledon, Cincinnati, the US Open and Tokyo (and winning seven of them).

But there's more to this loss than just those two streaks ending—his current reign at No. 1 could come to an end, too.

If Jannik Sinner wins the title in Paris this week, he'll take the No. 1 ranking back from Alcaraz next Monday, November 3rd.

Alcaraz is now stuck at 11,250 points, and Sinner, who didn't play in Paris last year, will keep adding to his 10,510 points with every win—10,600 for reaching the third round, 10,700 for reaching the quarterfinals, 10,900 for reaching the semifinals, 11,150 for reaching the final and 11,500 for winning the title.

Whether Alcaraz or Sinner is ranked No. 1 next Monday, the battle for the top spot is a little bit up in the air from there.

There are two ATP 250s next week, with neither Alcaraz nor Sinner entered, and if that stays the same, whoever is No. 1 next week will stay at No. 1 the week of November 10th.

But then the pressure is back on Sinner, as he's defending the maximum 1,500 points that week at the ATP Finals, where he won the title undefeated last year, whereas Alcaraz is only defending 200 points for winning one round-robin match. According to the ATP website those points are dropping off on November 17th, the Monday after this year's ATP Finals.

Sinner doesn't have the beefiest resume at the Rolex Paris Masters, winning just one match in three previous appearances at the event, but this is his first time playing it since he became a Grand Slam champion.

He's also on a 21-match winning streak on indoor hard courts, his last loss on indoor hard coming almost two years ago to Novak Djokovic in the final of the 2023 ATP Finals.

The No. 2-ranked Italian will open his Paris campaign on Wednesday afternoon against No. 41-ranked Belgian Zizou Bergs, who took out American Alex Michelsen in his opening match in the French capital on Monday, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2.