Jannik Sinner's premature elimination at the Shanghai Masters 1000 where he was supposed to defend the title won in the last edition risks having already decided the race for the first position in the ATP rankings untilthe end of the year. The Italian ace who had lost the lead after more than a year due to a loss to Carlos Alcaraz in the US Open final had increased his chances of overtaking his huge rival again by triumphing at the Beijing ATP 500 earlier last week, before the 22-year-old Spaniard announced his decision to skip the penultimate Masters 1000 of the season.
The 24-year-old from Sesto Pusteria did not have much time to recharge his batteries after the tournament in Beijing and had to make his debut in Shanghai last Saturday, eliminating the German player Daniel Altmaier without too much difficulty. The world No.2 who had received a waiver from organizers to start his tournament a day later than expected returned to action against Tallon Griekspoor on Sunday and extreme conditions due to humidity destroyed him.
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The four-time Grand Slam champion had to retire due to cramps during the third set and was supported by the ATP physiotherapist as he left the court.
Alcaraz smiles
Because of this unexpected result, Alcaraz currently has a 1340-point advantage over his main rival and will have to defend a few points between now and the end of the season. He had been eliminated in the round of 16 in Paris-Bercy last year and had not passed the round robin at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, while Sinner had lifted the trophy in front of his fans.
Should he maintain the top position until the end of 2025, the young star from Murcia would surpass 50 weeks at the top of the ATP rankings and would have nothing to fear at the Australian Open, where Jannik is the defending champion while he will defend only 400 points. This means that Carlitos has a very good chance of establishing a fairly long reign.
