Carlos Alcaraz won his first title of 2025 in February, triumphing in Rotterdam in indoor conditions and proving that he can be a very dangerous player on this surface as well.
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However, the world number 3 could have achieved an improved result at the Doha ATP 500 by taking advantage of the absence of Jannik Sinner and the premature elimination of Novak Djokovic, instead his run in Qatar ended already in the quarterfinals against the Czech ace Jiri Lehecka.
The young Spaniard had taken control of that match after losing the first set, but suffered a streak of four consecutive games in the very last part of the match and had to say goodbye to the tournament in the shock of the crowd.
The 4-time Grand Slam champion thus missed a very significant chance to get closer to Alexander Zverev and Sinner in the ATP ranking.
As everyone knows by now, the Italian ace was suspended for three months after reaching an agreement with WADA and will return to action at the Rome Masters 1000 in May.
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Alcaraz must shine in March
Right now, the 23-year-old from Sesto Pusteria has just started his 39th week at the top of the ATP ranking and leads with a lead of 3195 points over Sascha and 3820 points over Carlitos.
This means that the 21-year-old from Murcia will need to win at least two of the first four Masters 1000 races of the season in order to hope to dethrone Jannik before his return to the professional tour.
Sinner will lose 1600 points between Miami, Monte Carlo and Madrid, while Carlos will not be able to earn points in Indian Wells where he will be called upon to defend his title.
After the prestigious tournament in California which will take place from March 5 to 16 the current world number 3 will be able to earn valuable points in Miami, Monte Carlo (where he did not play last year), Barcelona (which he had to miss due to injury in 2024) and Madrid.
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If he triumph in Indian Wells, Carlos would become the third player after Roger Federer and Nole Djokovic to lift this trophy three times in a row.
