Jannik Sinner’s victory over Alexander Zverev in the semi-final at the Cincinnati Open has had a big impact on the seedings for the US Open and the world No 1 ranking.
The Italian claimed a 7-6 (11-9), 5-7, 7-6 (7-4) victory over Zverev to deny the German the chance of usurping Novak Djokovic and Carlos in the ATP Rankings ahead of the US Open.
Sinner, Djokovic, Alcaraz and Zverev were the top four in the rankings ahead of the Cincinnati Open and the former was assured of always assured of remaining at No 1 after the event following Djokovic’s decision to skip both the Canadian and Cincinnati Masters 1000 events.
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Alcaraz, meanwhile, had the opportunity to overtake Djokovic at No 2 with a deep run in Cincy, but he fell at the first hurdle as he was beaten in the second round by Gael Monfils.
Zverev then had a chance to overtake both Djokovic and Alcaraz to claim the No 2 spot, but he had to go all the way at the ATP Masters 1000 event.
With Sinner winning their semi-final, the top 10 seedings for the US Open have been confirmed as the Italian is followed by Djokovic, Alcaraz, Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Hubert Hurkacz, Casper Ruud, Grigor Dimitrov and Alex de Minaur.
It means Sinner and Djokovic can only face each other in the final while Alcaraz and Zverev will likely have to get past both in order to win the US Open.
Sinner will face Frances Tiafoe in Monday’s final and the American has moved up to No 20 in the ATP Rankings with his run. If Tiafoe wins the Cincinnati Open then he will be seeded 17th for the final Grand Slam of the year at Flushing Meadows.
Sinner’s run to the Cincy final has also put a dent in Djokovic and Alcaraz’s hopes of reclaiming the No 1 spot in the rankings after the US Open.
The Italian is on 9,410 points in the Live Rankings ahead of the Cincinnati final and he has only 180 points to defend in New York, which effectively puts him on 9,230 points (9,580 if he wins the final).
Djokovic is on 7,460 points and as the defending US Open champion that is the maximum he can achieve after the tournament, Alcaraz’s maximum is 8,860 and Zverev’s 8,675.
Sinner is thus assured of staying at No 1 until September 29 as the US Open is followed by the Davis Cup, Laver Cup and a couple of ATP 250 events where the top players didn’t feature last year.
The China Open, which runs from September 23-29, is the next event that will affect the top of the rankings as Sinner is the defending champion there.
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