ATP Cincinnati Open: Points Sinner, Alcaraz, Zverev, Djokovic, Shelton will drop
Carlos Alcaraz won’t defend his points from last year at the 2026 Cincinnati Open while there are also doubts over 2024 winner Jannik Sinner’s participation.
The 2025 Cincy final failed to live up to the pre-match hype despite featuring Alcaraz and Sinner, as the latter struggled with illness and never got going as the Spaniard raced into a 5-0 lead before the Italian retired.
But there won’t be an Alcaraz-Sinner encounter at this year’s ATP Masters 1000 event in Mason as the defending champion has withdrawn from the tournament as his team have decided not to take any risks as his right wrist is still not 100%.
With the ATP Rankings determined via a rolling 52-week, cumulative system, players will drop points they earned at the 2025 edition at the start of this year’s tournament and they will then earn points for every match win at the 2026 event.
Alcaraz, of course, earned the maximum points last year, but he won’t be able to earn any points this year due to his absence.
Points Big Names Will Drop At Cincinnati Open
Carlos Alcaraz – 1,000 points
ATP Masters 1000 title winners receive 1,000 ranking points and Alcaraz added that to his tally last year, but that will be removed next week.
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The Spaniard moved ahead of Alexander Zverev in the ATP Rankings this week, but he will slip to No 3 again without the German having to win any matches, as he will move from 8,160 points to 7,160 while Zverev will be on 7,700 once his points drop.
Jannik Sinner – 650
It remains to be seen if Sinner will play in Cincinnati, as he is struggling with a knee injury, but for now, his name remains in the main draw.
Sinner is well clear at the top of the rankings and he is assured of remaining at No 1 until after the US Open even if he ends up losing early at Cincy and Flushing Meadows.
Alexander Zverev/Terence Atmane – 400
Zverev reached the last four in 2025 before losing in straight sets against Alcaraz while Frenchman Atmane was a surprise semi-finalist as he came through qualifying before losing against Sinner.
The German is set to return to No 2 and he can chip away at Sinner’s lead with a title run while Atmane is currently at No 46 in the rankings and could slip down the list if he fails to defend those points.
Felix Auger-Aliassime/Holger Rune/Ben Shelton/Andrey Rublev – 200
Auger-Aliassime – who had to withdraw from this week’s Canadian Open – has climbed to No 4 in the rankings, but he could slip a few spots if he fails to reach the quarter-final again, while Rune won’t defend his points as he is still out with injury.
Shelton is currently 10th in the rankings Rublev 16th and both are under pressure to replicate last year’s performance.
Taylor Fritz – 100
After an early exit from the Canadian Open, Fritz will look to bounce back at the Cincinnati Open and outperform last year’s run to the round of 16.
Rafael Jodar/Joao Fonseca – 50
Jodar has already jumped to a high of No 15 in the ATP Ranking and he could edge closer to the top 10 with a deep run in Canada and/or Cincy.
The Spaniard has only 50 points to defend from an ATP Challenger Tour event last year.
Brazilian teenager Fonseca, meanwhile, reached the third round in Cincinnati in 2025.
Novak Djokovic – 0
After skipping the last two editions of the Cincinnati Open, three-time champion Djokovic has announced he will return to Mason this year.
The tennis great will start the tournament at No 4 in the rankings with 3,760 points and he could move ahead of Auger-Aliassime if he wins a fourth title and the Canadian loses early.
