ATP Rankings ahead of North American swing: Can Carlos Alcaraz knock Jannik Sinner off No 1 spot at Canadian Open?
Jannik Sinner started his 10th week at No 1 in the ATP Rankings on Monday and a lot will be on the spell when regular ATP Tour action returns at the Canadian Open next week.
It is a case “as you were” for the majority of players in the top 50 of the rankings as they were competing at the Paris Olympics where no points were on offer.
But there are several big tournaments on the calendar in the coming weeks as the ATP 1000 Canadian Open is followed by another Masters event, the Cincinnati Open, before the stars head to the Flushing Meadows for the final Grand Slam of the year, the US Open.
Reigning No 1 Sinner, who returns to action after missing the Paris Games due to illness, has the most to lose at Montreal as he is the defending champion while Novak Djokovic has a lot of points to defend at Cincinnati and the US Open.
ATP Rankings Before Canadian Open
1. Jannik Sinner – 9,570
2. Novak Djokovic – 8,460
3. Carlos Alcaraz – 8,130
4. Alexander Zverev – 6,845
5. Daniil Medvedev – 6,525
6. Alex de Minaur – 4,185
7. Hubert Hurkacz – 4,105
8. Andrey Rublev – 3,885
8. Casper Ruud – 3,880
10. Grigor Dimitrov – 3,770
Sinner, who has been world No 1 since June 10 when he replaced Djokovic, will drop 1,000 points as the defending champion so he will effectively be on 8,570 points in Montreal while he can only achieve a maximum of 9,570 if he wins the title again.
The Italian will remain ahead of Djokovic irrespective of his performance as the 24-time Grand Slam winner has withdrawn from the tournament as it clashes with the Olympics. With no points to defend, the Serbian will stay on 8,460 points.
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Carlos Alcaraz is the other player with a chance of reclaiming the No 1 ranking.
The Spaniard has 180 points to defend in Montreal after reaching the quarter-final last year so will effectively be on 7,950 points and a title run (1,000 points) will see him move to 8,950.
If Alcaraz wins the title then Sinner will need to reach at least the semi-final (400 points) to remain at No 1.
Points On The Line At Cincinnati & US Open
But there is good news for Sinner ahead of the final two big events on the North American hard-court swing as he only has 190 points to defend at the Cincinnati Open and the US Open as he lost in the second round in Ohio last year (10 points) and in the last 16 at the Flushing Meadows (180 points).
Djokovic has the most points to defend as he won back-to-back titles last year, earning 1,000 points when he defeated Alcaraz in the Cincinnati final and 2,000 when he beat Daniil Medvedev in New York.
A couple of poor tournaments could see him leave North America with 6,000-odd points.
Alcaraz, meanwhile, will defend 600 points at Cincinnati and 720 at Flushing Meadows and will probably need to win at least one of the two events if he wants to pip Sinner to the No 1 ranking after the swing.