ROME (AP) — It’s not just Grand Slam titles that Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have taken turns collecting this year.
The top two tennis players are also trading the No. 1 ranking back and forth.
Sinner officially returned to the top spot in the ATP rankings on Monday following his Paris Masters victory — replacing Alcaraz, who had held the honor for nearly two months.
But due to the rankings’ math and rules, Alcaraz will return to No. 1 next Monday.
The Italian and the Spaniard are separated by so few points now — Sinner leads with 11,500 points to Alcaraz’s 11,250 — that it will come down to their performances at the upcoming ATP Finals in Turin to determine who ends the year at No. 1.
While neither Sinner nor Alcaraz are playing this week — except for when the ATP Finals start on Sunday — the reason the rankings will change again next Monday is because that’s the day when the points from each player’s performance at last year’s finals drops off.
Sinner next week will lose the 1,500 points he earned from winning the finals last year, while Alcaraz will lose only the 200 points that he earned after failing to advance from the group stage.
So next Monday, the rankings will read: Alcaraz 11,050 and Sinner 10,000.
And there’s zero possibility for any other player to move into the top two spots anytime soon since No. 3 Alexander Zverev (5,560 points), No. 4 Taylor Fritz (4,735) and No. 5 Novak Djokovic (4,580) trail far behind.
Sinner and Alcaraz have amassed their huge points totals by winning — among other tournaments — all four of this year’s majors.
Sinner won the Australian Open. Then Alcaraz beat Sinner in an epic French Open final. Sinner got some revenge by beating Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final. And then Alcaraz beat Sinner again for the U.S. Open trophy.
Making matters more complicated is that Alcaraz will be seeded No. 1 for the finals — even though he won’t be ranked No. 1 entering that tournament.
That’s because the finals uses another rankings system — the “Race to Turin” that takes into account only points accumulated in the calendar year.
Alcaraz leads Sinner by more than 1,000 points in the Race rankings.
Sinner lost ground in both systems during a three-month doping suspension near the start of the year.
Sinner needs to win the ATP Finals and hope Alcaraz doesn’t reach the final to secure the year-end No. 1 for a second consecutive year.
Alcaraz needs to win three matches at the finals to finish 2025 atop the rankings for the second time in his career. Alcaraz became the youngest player to finish a year at No. 1 when he achieved the feat as a 19-year-old in 2022.
As for the WTA rankings, Aryna Sabalenka has already secured the year-ending No. 1 spot.
Sinner enters Turin on a 10-match winning streak after titles in Vienna and Paris, will be playing on his favorite surface — an indoor hard court — and can expect loud support from his home fans at the finals.
Alcaraz goes to Italy coming off a loss to Cameron Norrie in his Paris opener and has often struggled when playing indoors.
The other players to qualify for the finals — which features the top eight of the Race — so far are: Zverev, Djokovic, Ben Shelton, Fritz and Alex de Minaur.
Paris finalist Felix Auger-Aliassime and Lorenzo Musetti are still battling for the final spot, with Musetti needing to win a tournament in Athens this week to move ahead of the Canadian and qualify for the elite event in his home country.
It’s also unclear, though, if Djokovic plans to play the finals at a point in his career where he has said he’s focusing almost exclusively on the majors.
Djokovic, who withdrew from the finals last year, is playing in Athens this week.
If Djokovic withdraws, both Auger-Aliassime and Musetti would qualify for the finals.
The draw for the finals is slated for Thursday — when it could still be uncertain who the last qualifier is.
Andrew Dampf is at https://x.com/AndrewDampf
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Italy's Jannik Sinner holds the trophy after winning the final match of the Paris Masters tennis tournament against Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime in Paris, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
FILE - Spain's Carlos Alcaraz, plays a shot against United States' Taylor Fritz during the men's final match at the Tokyo ATP 500 tennis tournament at Ariake Coliseum, in Tokyo, Japan, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte, file)
Italy's Jannik Sinner celebrates after winning the final match of the Paris Masters tennis tournament against Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime in Paris, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Formally dressed in a traditional Qatari bisht, Dr. Nasser Mohamed strolled past a crowd of several hundred people outside Chase Center as the England-Croatia World Cup match was shown high above on the big screen. His gold-and-black robe featured a flourish: rainbow piping down each sleeve and the words “love” and “freedom” written in Arabic.
“That’s why the World Cup is really powerful, because people don’t need to hear about who I am — I can just walk, be seen, and that’s it,” he said. “We don’t have to say a word.”
Four years ago, when the World Cup was played in his home country and Mohamed was already living across the world in San Francisco, he came out and became an exceptionally rare openly gay man from Qatar, where gay sex is prohibited and he can't dress how he'd like.
Mohamed is speaking up again for those without a voice. The 39-year-old now feels secure enough to walk around with confidence, and without fear of harm, while wearing chunky heeled boots, mascara and 2-inch dangly earrings. He still gets regular backlash and hate, but he has also found support and kindness from around the globe that helps drown out the death threats and divisiveness.
“I am so loved in San Francisco, really, truly,” Mohamed said of the city he moved to more than a decade ago. “I have not worn this since I was a kid in Qatar, and San Francisco put it back on my shoulders, with rainbows.”
For him, donning the bisht for everyone to see is important: “The emir of Qatar put it on (Lionel) Messi at the last World Cup to celebrate Messi. We should be celebrated too.”
An LGBTQ+ activist and family doctor who treats HIV, “Dr. Nas” — as he is known — launched his “Love is the Goal” campaign ahead of the World Cup and Pride Month, hoping to humanize all people taking part. For a video, he combined soccer lingo with references to love, such as him reading “love is kickoff, the very first touch,” and someone else offering “love is the assist, finding you exactly where you are.”
“Saving a life like mine is very expensive, and I know that, and this is the hard truth,” Mohamed said. “So that’s why I had to pave my own path and get out. I lost everything. I’m disowned completely. I had to build myself from scratch, the ground up, all of it.”
On Wednesday, Qatar plays its final group-stage match, against Bosnia-Herzegovina in Seattle. Mohamed won't be there, but he was at the team's first game, on June 13 in Santa Clara, California. He had clear and visible security, and was escorted by California state Sen. Scott Wiener to the 1-1 draw with Switzerland. A photo from the day has more than 12 million views on social media.
“As I was passing, everybody was taking pictures of me with the senator,” he recalled. “It was so dramatic.”
And emotional.
“In the stadium I couldn’t speak because if I started talking I’m not going to stop crying, because when am I going to see Qatar again in my life?” Mohamed said through tears. “When is it ever going to happen again? I don’t know. When am I going to see home? I can’t see Mom and Dad, even when they were getting hit by missiles.”
After the game, he hosted a dance party at the San Francisco Mint highlighted by a performance “Let Your Love Shine,” written by close friend Simon Tam and sung by Debby Holiday.
“Nas’ journey moves me because it is rooted in extraordinary courage and an enormous heart,” Tam said. “He’s taken his own truth and turned it into a way to help others feel seen, worthy, and less alone.”
Tam believes Mohamed can change the world — and that's the doctor's hope, too.
“The first step to heal is to witness things the way they are,” Mohamed said. “My endgame is for every child to belong with their own family and their own society.”
Still, it breaks his heart knowing he can't go back to Qatar. Mohamed has been ostracized by his own family because of his sexuality and for standing up to power to help others. For those in need, including a transgender woman who had been imprisoned and tortured, he has aided their moves out of Qatar and secured resources so they could rebuild their lives elsewhere.
Mohamed is thankful for this new existence, embracing the obstacles that come with his work, even as he believes his safety could be at stake.
“We all fled persecution and took political asylum in the U.S., and now we invited all of them to come here to play soccer,” he said. “I didn’t feel safe leaving my apartment.”
Still, after everything, he roots for Qatar — and the Americans. He plans to watch the U.S. during the round of 32 next week in Santa Clara.
“I am cheering for both the United States and for Qatar with love,” he said. “They both had homes for me and, when I challenge either of them, it is out of love, and I mean it.”
AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup
Dr. Nasser Mohamed, of Qatar, is photographed, Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Dr. Nasser Mohamed, of Qatar, is photographed, Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Dr. Nasser Mohamed, of Qatar, is photographed, Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Dr. Nasser Mohamed, of Qatar, is photographed, Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Dr. Nasser Mohamed, of Qatar, is photographed, Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
