ATP Finals Race to Turin: Carlos Alcaraz closes in on Jannik Sinner with Novak Djokovic involved in tight battle
Jannik Sinner remains in the lead for the ATP Finals Race to Turin, but Carlos Alcaraz is now within striking distance while Novak Djokovic’s decision to skip the Cincinnati Open will put some pressure on him in terms of qualification for the season-ending tournament.
World No 1 Sinner has held the top spot in the standings since the start of the year following his Australian Open title run, and he increased his lead with titles at the Rotterdam Open and Miami Open.
But the Italian’s advantage has been reduced by Alcaraz on the back of the 21-year-old’s French Open and Wimbledon titles.
And with Sinner unable to successfully defend his Canadian Open title last week, the Spaniard – who missed the Montreal event – has managed to close the gap to just 450 points with a couple of big tournaments still to come.
Sinner leads with 6,410 points with Alcaraz second (5,960), Alexander Zverev third (5,325) and Daniil Medvedev fourth (4,020).
Those four appear to be assured of qualification for the year-end tournament in Turin, but there is an interesting race developing behind them for the final four spots with ATP Finals record-holder Djokovic among them.
Djokovic has won seven ATP Finals – including the last two editions – but he has failed to win any ATP tournaments so far this season. The 24-time Grand Slam winner did win gold at the Paris Olympics, but no ATP points were on offer at the event.
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The tennis great then opted to skip last week’s Canadian Open to stay on 3,160 points, which puts him in a precarious position in sixth. He will also not be in action in Cincinnati this week, giving those behind him an opportunity to overtake him.
Andrey Rublev and Alex de Minaur occupy the final two places in the top eight with Stefanos Tsitsipas (2,565) and Taylor Fritz (2,590) the current alternates.
The cut-off for eighth place was 3,460 points for the 2023 ATP Finals while in 2022 Fritz was the last man to book his spot with 2,955 points.
Tommy Paul (2,535), Grigor Dimitrov (2,435), Hubert Hurkacz (2,350) and Lorenzo Musetti (2,085) are the men who are also still in with a shout and there are still big points on offer.
The US Open is the final Grand Slam left on the calendar with three ATP Masters 1000 events (Cincinnati Open, Shanghai Masters and Paris Masters) and several ATP 500 tournaments remaining.
ATP Race to Turin Rankings
1. Jannik Sinner – 6,410 points
2. Carlos Alcaraz – 5,960
3. Alexander Zverev – 5,325
4. Daniil Medvedev – 4,020
5. Casper Ruud – 3,595
6. Novak Djokovic – 3,160
7. Andrey Rublev – 3,090
8. Alex de Minaur – 2,905
Alternates:
9. Stefanos Tsitsipas – 2,565
10. Taylor Fritz – 2,590