ATP Race to Turin: How things stand as tour rolls into Cincy

Carlos Alcaraz in action

The ATP Race to Turin is panning out to be an intriguing battle as the US Open season continues in Mason Ohio.

For those with ambitions of appearing in the 8-man season-ending spectacular in Italy, the 1000 points on offer at the Cincinnati Masters would be a massive boost.

Despite his injury worries, Rafael Nadal leads the series and is guaranteed to still be in that No 1 slot come Monday given his big advantage.

Chasing Nadal is compatriot Carlos Alcaraz whose opening win in Cincinnati ensured he took hold of the match-wins lead for the current season.

In relatively comfortable positions are Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas, but both men will want to go deep to strengthen their position in the Race to Turin.

World No 1 Daniil Medvedev is back in fifth and is within range of a clutch of players who are in contention for the Tour Finals but are far from securing a coveted place.

Alexander Zverev’s injury woes have left him in serious danger of missing the season-ending event and failing to defend his title.

Zverev will definitely not be defending his title in Cincinnati and could drop out of the top eight if results are not favourable this week.

In seventh heading to Ohio, Felix Auger-Aliassime is in a position to press for an ATP Tour Finals debut after a breakout campaign in 2022.

Auger-Aliassime should feel that he needs to clinch a place from this position, but he also has a handful of players to concern him should they go deep in Cincy.

Andrey Rublev is currently on the bubble as the man in eighth spot on the ATP Race To Turin standings.

Rublev made a strong start to the season but saw his fortunes tail off during the grass court season and missed Wimbledon due to the ban on Russian players.

He was fortunate that points were not awarded for Wimbledon or he would now be outside the top eight.

After his runner-up efforts in Montreal, Hubert Hurkacz leads those knocking on the door in the ATP Race to Turin.

Hurkacz opens his Cincy campaign against a tricky opponent in John Isner but if he can progress an reach the last four he would almost certainly shoot into the top eight.

Meanwhile, Montreal champion Pablo CarreƱo Busta isn’t far behind and could also edge into the bracket if he can reach back-to-back finals.

With no points assigned to his Wimbledon win, Novak Djokovic is in danger of failing to qualify for Turin.

Djokovic is not in Cincinnati although he still harbours hopes of appearing at the US Open which he might need to win in order to avoid the interruption of a long streak of ATP Tour Finals entries.

The Serb is currently 645 points off eighth-place Rublev, and he could drop a few more places once the dust settles in Mason, Ohio.

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Italians Matteo Berrettini and Jannik Sinner are among those looking to force their way into the finals in their backyard and is Wimbledon finalist Cameron Norrie.

All three could move into the top eight if they lift the Cincinnati Masters trophy.

View the ATP Tour Race to Turin standings here.

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