Carlos Alcaraz suffers rankings hammer blow that could set up Jannik Sinner showdown

Carlos Alcaraz will pay a heavy price for his early exit at the Paris Masters, as he is set to suffer a rankings slide that could affect his hopes at the ATP Finals.

Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have been the outstanding players on the ATP Tour this year, with the new ‘Big 2’ in the men’s game sharing the Grand Slam titles in 2024.

Sinner won the Australian Open and US Open, while Alcaraz completed the always challenging double of the French Open and Wimbledon during the tightly congested European summer of tennis.

Yet the ATP Rankings will not reflect the dominance of Alcaraz and Sinner at the ATP Finals after Alexander Zverev leapt above Alcaraz after his run to the Paris Masters final.

Big-serving German Zverev took some time away from tennis in recent weeks as he looked to recover following a draining 2024 and the break appears to have served him well as he has been back to his best in Paris.

Now he looks set to be the second seed for the lucrative ATP Finals in Turin later this month after he jumped above Alcaraz in the live ATP Rankings after a 6-3, 7-6(4) victory against Holger Rune in the Paris Masters semi-final.

“I feel like I made it a little difficult for myself but he is a champion. It is probably his favourite tournament and favourite court, but I am happy to be in my second final here,” Zverev said. “I am looking forward to it.”

Zverev was also asked about his rise to No 2 in the ATP Rankings, as he insisted Alcaraz is still a step ahead of him after a stunning 2023.

“It’s nice, for sure,” he said of his elevation in the rankings. “It’s nice to be back at the highest position that I have been so far.

“Of course, I want to get higher, but for me still Jannik has the best year this season, for sure, and then Carlos had the second-best year. He won two Grand Slams.

“I know that I’m ahead of him in the rankings maybe, but for me he won Wimbledon and Roland Garros. Those are two massive titles. So they are still the two best players in the world, in my opinion, at the moment.”

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Zverev’s move up the rankings means he will lead one of the groups at the ATP Finals and it opens up the prospect of a group stage clash between Alcaraz and Sinner.

His appearance in the Paris final also ensures he has junped about Alcaraz in the ATP Race list that compiles points for 2024, with that calculation used to name the seeds for the ATP Finals.

So Zverev will avoid playing either Alcaraz or Sinner in the opening phase of the tournament in Turin and he could avoid a group stage meeting with both if the ‘Big 2’ are placed in the same group.

On the evidence of his form in Paris, Zverev will be a player to watch at the ATP Finals whoever he is drawn against, with his confidence rising as he looks to win the end-of-season finals for the third time in his career.

ATP FINALS EXPLAINED

• The ATP Finals has a round-robin format, with eight players divided into two groups of four.
• The eight seeds are determined by the ATP Race To Turin on the Monday after the last ATP Tour tournament of the calendar year.
• All singles matches are the best of three tie-break sets, including the final.
• The top seeded player is placed in Group A and the second seeded player is placed in Group B.
• Players seeded 3 and 4, 5 and 6, 7 and 8, are then drawn in pairs with the first drawn placed in Group A.
• Each player plays the three other players in his group.
• The winner of each group (best overall record) is placed in separate semi-final brackets, with the top player in Group A playing the runner-up in Group B, and vice versa.
• If two or more players are tied after the round robin matches, the ties are broken by the Tie-Break procedure.

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