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Jannik Sinner widens gap to Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz in rankings with Cincinnati title as he creates Italian history

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Jannik Sinner Novak Djokovic Carlos Alcaraz

Jannik Sinner’s title run at the Cincinnati Open has helped him to maintain a comfortable cushion over Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz at the top of the ATP Rankings while he has also notched up a couple of Italian milestones.

The 23-year-old defeated Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 in the ATP Masters 1000 title to become the first Italian to win the singles title since the event was started in 1899.

The Cincy trophy was also Sinner’s fifth Masters title while he took his ATP Tour title tally for 2024 to five – also the most won by an Italian in a calendar year.

Cincinnati Open: Jannik Sinner beats Frances Tiafoe to win fifth title of season - BBC Sport

JUST IN: Iga Swiatek criticised for using ‘bad habit’ tactic to disrupt opponents

The world No 1 now sits on 15 career singles titles as he drew level with Carlos Alcaraz and Lleyton Hewitt for the second-most titles won from their first 19 finals. Rafael Nadal leads that particular statistic as he won 17 of his first 19 finals.

But it was far from an easy week for the Sinner as he struggled with a hip injury for most of the tournament while the weather also caused havoc, resulting in extra time on the site.

“It was a very difficult week, tough week. I’m very happy about today’s match,” he said. “It was very tough mentally. Had such an amazing run here, and I tried to do my best today.

“We both were quite tired from yesterday. We both felt a lot of tension, but I’m very glad about [the] level I played today, especially in the important moments.”

Sinner picked up 990 points with his title to move to 9,760 points at the top of the ATP Rankings, 2,300 points ahead of Djokovic in second place with Alcaraz another 100 points behind in third place.

It puts him in a comfortable position at the US Open as he only has 180 points to defend at the final Grand Slam of the year while Djokovic (7,460) will drop 2,000 points as the defending champion and Alcaraz (7,360) will drop 720.

It means the Italian will have at least a 900-odd point lead after the US Open even if he loses in the first round. The maximum number of points that Djokovic can achieve at Flushing Meadows is 7,460 while Alcaraz will be on 8,640 if he wins the title.

Sinner is assured of staying at No 1 until at least the China Open and he will drop 500 points as the defending champion, but that means Alcaraz would then have to make up points, but he will also drop 180 points as he reached the semi-final last year.

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Iga Swiatek criticised for using ‘bad habit’ tactic to disrupt opponents

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Iga Swiatek Cincinnati Open

Tennis great Lindsay Davenport has criticised Iga Swiatek, claiming the world No 1 uses bathroom breaks as a tactic to disrupt her opponents.

The three-time Grand Slam champion asserted that Swiatek uses the tactic every time she loses a set and labelled it a “bad habit that should be patrolled by the powers that be.”

Swiatek’s tendency to leave the court to take lengthy bathroom breaks after losing sets in matches has been highlighted in recent months by some tennis pundits and fans.

Sabalenka ousts No.1 Swiatek to reach Cincinnati final against Pegula | New Straits Times | Malaysia General Business Sports and Lifestyle News

READ: Aryna Sabalenka rises to No 2 after breaking the wall in rivalry with Iga Swiatek 

The world No 1 took a break after losing the first set in her 3-6, 3-6 defeat to Aryna Sabalenka in the Cincinnati Open semi-finals. The 23-year-old Polish star also left the court after losing sets in her matches against Danielle Collins at the Paris Olympics.

It is worth noting that Swiatek has not broken any rules and she is by no means the only player to take extended bathroom breaks.

The five-time major winner has also left the court to take breaks after winning sets, which challenges the suggestion she only does it to disrupt opponents when losing.

Speaking on Tennis Channel, former world No 9 Coco Vandeweghe weighed in on the debate about Swiatek’s use of bathroom breaks.

“It’s been spoken about, Iga’s tactic of going to the bathroom, changing her kit, taking her time, always after losing a set,” said the two-time major semi-finalist. “If I was still playing, I would definitely be very aware of it — she’s trying to disrupt my rhythm.”

Davenport, a former world No 1, condemned the apparent tactic and called for Swiatek to be “patrolled.”

“It’s a bad habit that probably should start to be patrolled a little bit by the powers that be,” argued the American. “Lose a set, you leave the court — never used to be like that. But it happens every time.”

The WTA rulebook states there is a time limit of three minutes for players taking a “toilet break only”, which can be taken between sets or before a player’s own service game.

There is a five-minute limit for a “change of attire break” or a “change of attire break taken with a toilet break”, which can only be taken between sets.

The rulebook clarifies that “an authorized break is timed from when the player enters the toilet or change area to when she leaves the toilet or change area.”

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Sinner v Alcaraz: Jannik Sinner makes injury confession as he edges towards Carlos Alcaraz clash in Cincinnati

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Jannik Sinner Carlos Alcaraz Cincinnati Open

Jannik Sinner may be heading into the US Open as the world No 1, but he also has plenty of questions hovering over him.

After losing against Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals of last week’s Montreal Masters event, fresh concerns over Sinner’s hip injury were raised.

The Italian was struggling with a hip injury during the European clay court season in April and May and then suffered with tonsilitis as he lost in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon against Daniil Medvedev.

Indian Wells. Sinner-Alcaraz, la semifinale che tutti attendono

JUST IN: Iga Swiatek makes ‘scary’ admission as she highlights concerning tennis issue

He was then forced to pull out of the Olympics due to illness, so all eyes were on the Italian as he played his first match at the Cincinnati Open against American Alex Michelsen.

While Sinner sealed a 6-4, 7-5 win, this was not a convincing performance for a player who extended his record on hard courts in 2024 to a hugely impressive 25-2.

“It was a tough match. He played already some matches but for me, it was the first match here, so I tried to feel the conditions a bit more,” said Sinner.

“I’m very happy to be in the next round. For me this is a place where I used to struggle a lot in the past years, so let’s see what I can do this time.

“I’m trying to stay in a positive mindset, positive moment, and I think that today also brought me the win.”

When asked if he was physically fit, he offered up a less than convincing reply as he said: “For sure not 100 per cent yet, but I’m trying to get used to these conditions.”

Sinner saved three break points in the opening set and five in the second as he was pushed by Michelsen, with the sparkling form Sinner showed as he won the Miami Open on US hard courts back in March not in evidence in this latest outing.

With French Open and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz also in the draw in Cincinnati, Sinner will be hoping his body stands up to the demands in the hot conditions in Ohio as he will need to play better than he did against Michelsen as this was not a display that suggested the world No 1 is peaking ahead of the last major of the year.

Meanwhile, Britains’ Jack Draper battled back from the brink of defeat and required a medical time-out before beating Jaume Munar 7-5 3-6 7-6 (5) in the first round in Cincinnati.

The British No 1 struggled alarmingly the latter stages, but dug deep after treatment on his abdomen in the deciding set and will play Greece’s world number 11 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the next round.

Draper recovered from 4-2 down in the opening set to twice break Munar, but the Spaniard, ranked 89, levelled it up by taking the second.

Both players broke serve early in the decider and after Draper saved a break point to lead 6-5, the 22-year-old left-hander called for the trainer.

Munar comfortably held serve to take it to a tie-break, but Draper, who became British number one earlier this summer after winning his first career ATP Tour title in Stuttgart, defied waning energy levels to take it 7-5.

Tsitsipas beat Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff 4-6 6-4 6-3, while Denmark’s Holger Rune and Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime also progressed.

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Iga Swiatek closes in on Serena Williams record after opening Cincinnati win

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Iga Swiatek Serena Williams Cincinnati Open

Iga Swiatek could be in line to break a Serena Williams record after surviving a second-set wobble to reach round three at the Cincinnati Open.

After receiving a round one bye, Swiatek saw off French qualifier Varvara Gracheva 6-0, 6-7(8), 6-2 to keep her quest for a first title at the tournament alive.

However, the scoreline, while showing it was a battle at stages, does not tell the full story outright.

French Open 2022: Iga Swiatek takes down Serena Williams record - Yahoo Sport

READ: Iga Swiatek makes ‘scary’ admission as she highlights concerning tennis issue

The world No 1 led 6-0, 5-2 at one stage and held five match points in the second set, though was pegged back and forced into a decider.

But the five-time major winner held her ground and bounced back in the decider to set up a round three clash versus 15th seed Marta Kostyuk.

“Honestly, I knew I had the game to win it because I had five match points,” she said on court afterwards.

“It was my fault that I didn’t close it – but it happens.

“I didn’t want to have any regrets. I looked forward and tried to take a lesson from what happened and start playing differently, in the same way I played the beginning of the match.”

Victory for Swiatek continues her fine form at WTA 1000 events in 2024, with four titles at that level to her name coming into Cincinnati.

The Pole was triumphant at Doha, Indian Wells, Madrid, and Rome, and other strong results include a semi-final run in Dubai.

She now has 28 wins at that level this season, eclipsing her previous best total of 27 from 2023.

And that has put her in striking distance of Williams’ record for most WTA 1000 wins in an individual calendar year.

The American picked up a staggering 36 WTA 1000 match wins in 2013, in one of the most impressive seasons of her legendary career.

However, Swiatek now has a genuine chance of beating that tally.

The world No 1 has an opportunity to potentially pick up another four wins in Cincinnati – hypothetically winning the title in the process – and then has two more WTA 1000 events to play in 2024.

Swiatek will go into the China Open as the defending champion in September, before the return of the Wuhan Open the following week.

Meanwhile, the 23-year-old also extended her current record for the highest percentage of sets won 6-0 at WTA 1000 tournaments.

Swiatek has now picked up a bagel in 11.2% of sets she has played at WTA 1000s, well ahead of the likes of Williams, Victoria Azarenka, and Garbine Muguruza in the all-time standings.

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