King Carlos to get inked after Paris coronation

Paris, June 10

Carlos Alcaraz plans to continue his tradition of celebrating Grand Slam titles with tattoos by getting ink of the date he won his first French Open championship and a drawing of the Eiffel Tower.

Sinner overtakes Djokovic to debut at No. 1

paris: Jannik Sinner made his debut at No. 1 in the ATP rankings today, moving up one spot to replace the injured Novak Djokovic there. The 22-year-old Sinner is the first player from Italy to reach No. 1 since the computerized rankings began in 1973. He will be the top-seeded man at Wimbledon, where play begins July 1. Alcaraz’s third major title allowed him to rise one place in the rankings to No. 2. Iga Swiatek remained No. 1, while Coco Gauff climbed to a career-high No. 2. ap

That art to help remember Sunday’s 6-3 2-6 5-7 6-1 6-2 comeback against Alexander Zverev in the final at Roland Garros will go near Alcaraz’s left ankle.

I have to find the time. But I’ll do it for sure. It’s going to be on the left ankle. Wimbledon was the right one. Here it’s going to be the left one, I think with the Eiffel Tower, with the date. Carlos Alcaraz

His right ankle already bears the date of his 2023 Wimbledon triumph and an image of a strawberry; his left arm carries the date of his first major trophy, which arrived at the 2022 US Open.

At the rate he’s going, the 21-year-old from Spain might run out of skin. Alcaraz, though, noted Sunday that he assured his mother he would not keep printing the dates of every Slam victory for the rest of his career on his body.

Instead, he’ll keep it to just dates of the first title from each of the four most important events in tennis — which means all that remains is the Australian Open, and who would doubt that he eventually will add that one, too?

As it is, Alcaraz is the youngest man to collect a Slam title on clay, grass and hardcourts, much as he was the youngest, at 19, to reach No. 1 in the ATP rankings.

“My game suits … every surface,” he explained, “because I practice it.” He first learned the sport on clay. He finds himself most comfortable on hardcourts — he sought to excel there because that’s what is used at most tournaments — and his always-look-to-attack style is a perfect fit for grass, as his win over seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic in last year’s final at the All England Club proved. Alcaraz’s title defence there begins July 1.

Greatness has been predicted of him for quite some time and, so far, he has met the outsized expectations. The standards he’s setting only serve to increase the volume of the praise. — AP