Sinner surges in battle for year-end No. 1, but Alcaraz within striking distance
Jannik Sinner has taken a sizable lead in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin by winning the Cincinnati Open, but the battle for ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honours is far from over.
The 23-year-old is in pole position for the accolade with just three months remaining in the season. But with this year’s Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz 1,440 points behind the Italian, there is still plenty to play for with the US Open coming up next week.
PIF ATP Live Race To Turin
| Player | Points |
| 1) Jannik Sinner | 7,400 |
| 2) Carlos Alcaraz | 5,960 |
| 3) Alexander Zverev | 5,715 |
| 4) Daniil Medvedev | 4,020 |
| 5) Casper Ruud | 3,595 |
| 6) Andrey Rublev | 3,280 |
| 7) Novak Djokovic | 3,160 |
| 8) Alex de Minaur | 2,905 |
Sinner, who became the first player from his country to reach World No. 1 earlier this year, has given himself a cushion in the Live Race. If he reaches the semi-finals in New York, he will remain in first place regardless of any other player’s performance at the season’s final major.
What the Italian has done by winning Cincinnati has put pressure on Alcaraz and third-placed Alexander Zverev, who is 245 points behind him, to make a huge run at Flushing Meadows in an attempt to close the gap.
Alcaraz and Zverev are the only players who could pass Sinner in the Live Race by the end of the US Open. Both men would need to capture the trophy to have a chance of doing so.
Entering the Cincinnati Open, Sinner was just 450 points ahead of Alcaraz, making the margins razor thin. But because Alcaraz lost in the second round at the Lindner Family Tennis Center, he only earned 10 points to Sinner’s 1,000 for lifting the trophy. Instead of the Spaniard leaving Cincinnati in first, which was possible, Sinner is now 1,440 points ahead of him.
As quickly as the momentum shifted in Ohio, it can do the same in New York, where the champion will earn 2,000 points.
[ATP APP]Alex de Minaur, who has not competed since Wimbledon due to a hip injury, holds the eighth and final qualifying spot with 2,905 points. The Australian is trying to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time. Ninth-placed Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals champion, is just 180 points behind (2,725).
Paris Olympics gold medalist Novak Djokovic is seventh in the Live Race, 4,240 points behind first-placed Sinner. The Serbian is in good position to qualify for the year-end championships for the 17th time.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]