Jannik Sinner has been warned that he will need to return to winning ways quickly ahead of a crucial summer in his ongoing rivalry with Carlos Alcaraz.
World No 1 Sinner defeated Alcaraz to claim his fourth Grand Slam title at Wimbledon this summer, triumphing in four sets to win his first title at the All England Club.
The Italian already had a comfortable cushion over Alcaraz in the ATP Rankings, but with the Spaniard losing points as the reigning Wimbledon champion, his advantage only grew last month.
Sinner currently holds a staggering 12,030 points in the ATP Rankings, with No 2 Alcaraz 3,430 points behind on a total of 8,600.
The Italian will drop 200 points from the Canadian Open, skipping the event in 2025 after reaching the last eight in 2024, though he will still hold a substantial lead at the top.
Both he and Alcaraz, who skipped the Canadian Open for the second straight season, are now set to return at the Cincinnati Open, where pressure begins to mount on Sinner from an ATP Rankings perspective.
The 23-year-old has 1,000 points to defend as the reigning Cincinnati Open champion, before defending 2,000 points as the reigning US Open champion at the end of August.
In contrast, Alcaraz has just 10 points to defend in Cincinnati and 50 points to defend in New York, having been stunned in the second round of both tournaments last summer.
Sinner also has more points to defend post-US Open, with 1,000 points at the Shanghai Masters and 1,500 points at the ATP Finals to his name.
Meanwhile, the biggest chunk of points Alcaraz has to his name for the rest of the year is the 500 points he won at the China Open last October – beating Sinner in the final.
The post-Wimbledon stretch of the season has traditionally been stronger for the world No 1 than Alcaraz, and Sinner likely enters both Cincinnati and the US Open as the favourite.
However, writing in La Gazetta dello Sport, former world No 12 Paolo Bertolucci claimed that Sinner will need to be mindful of “real rival” Alcaraz over the coming weeks.
“Now in Cincinnati, Jannik will need to immediately deliver a high-level performance to consolidate the points he’s gained or make up for those he’ll lose,” said Bertolucci.
“He’ll have to watch his back from the Spaniard [Alcaraz], now his only real rival for the world number one spot.
