Novak Djokovic And Carlos Alcaraz Battle For World No. 1 Ranking ...

MASON, OHIO - AUGUST 20: Carlos Alcaraz of Spain and Novak Djokovic of Serbia pose with their ... [+] trophies after the final of the Western & Southern Open at Lindner Family Tennis Center on August 20, 2023 in Mason, Ohio. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz both have a shot at finishing the Australian Open as World No. 1, with a potential final between the top two seeds a certain winner-takes-all showdown.

As the defending champion, No. 1 Djokovic will drop 2000 points when the ATP Rankings are released on the Monday after the Open concludes. No. 2 Alcaraz, who missed the year’s first Grand Slam last year due to injury, has no points to defend.

Daniil Medvedev, who has spent 16 weeks at No. 1 during his career, has a chance of returning to No. 1 following the Australian Open, but he would need to win the title and not have either Djokovic or Alcaraz reach the semifinals.

The men’s quarterfinals are set and feature the top six players in the world — Djokovic, Alcaraz, Medvedev, No. 4 Jannik Sinner, No. 5 Andrey Rublev and No. 6 Alexander Zverev — along with No. 9 Hubert Hurkacz and No. 12 Taylor Fritz, the last American man remaining. Three Grand Slam champions remain: Djokovic (24), Alcaraz (2) and Medvedev (1).

Djokovic, who is seeking an 11th Australian Open title and record-extending 25th major title, faces Fritz in the day session Tuesday (10:30 p.m. ET Monday), while Sinner meets Rublev in the night session (4:15 a.m. ET, Tuesday).

Djokovic is 8-0 against Fritz, while Sinner leads Rublev 4.2

The winners meet in one semifinal in the top half of the draw (10:30 p.m. ET, Thursday).

On the bottom half, Alcaraz faces Zverev, with the German holding a 4-3 edge, while Hurkacz leads Medvedev 3-2.

The winners meet in the other semifinal on Friday (3:30 a.m. ET).

The men’s championship is set for Sunday (3:30 a.m. ET).

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