Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are locked in a tennis rivalry that stacks up against some of the great rivalries. They’ve even been dubbed “Sincaraz.”
Their epic, more-than-five-hour match at the French Open demonstrated this, as they appeared to be almost evenly matched. Alcaraz, of course, prevailed at Roland Garros, but Sinner won at Wimbledon, and he’s the player who has the #1 ranking, despite the controversy of a doping scandal.
“Sincaraz” will be on display again on Aug. 18 at the Cincinnati Open, and the final, coming in the shadow of the looming U.S. Open, could affect the #1 ranking in men’s tennis. Here’s how.
Jannik Sinner Has 2,250 More Points Than Carlos Alcaraz Going Into the Cincinnati Open
There’s a lot at stake in Cincinnati, despite the tournament’s lower profile than the upcoming U.S. Open in New York.
That’s because, if Alcaraz wins, he makes his job easier to snag the #1 ranking from Sinner at the U.S. Open.
According to the ATP Tour, the Cincinnati Open final will have “huge ramifications on the battle for the No. 1 PIF ATP Ranking heading into the US Open.”
Going into Cincinnati, Sinner leads Alcaraz by 2,250 points. See the live ranking point totals here. Sinner had 11,480 live points, and Alcaraz had 9,240.
According to the ATP Tour, if Alcaraz wins in Cincinnati, “he would pull to within 1,900 points of Sinner.” The difference is Sinner’s 2024 U.S. Open victory.
If Sinner wins in Cincinnati, Alcaraz will not have a chance at the #1 ranking without reaching the semi-finals at the U.S. Open, the ATP Tour reports.
Thus, his path will get tougher, even though the ranking “will be up for grabs in New York” either way.
Jannik Sinner & Carlos Alcaraz Have Praised Each Other in Interviews Before the Cincinnati Open
“We’ve played quite a lot now. It’s going to be a very, very difficult match,” said Sinner of the rivalry, according to the Cincinnati Open.
“I’m really looking forward to playing against him once again,” said Alcaraz, according to the Open. “Thanks to him, I bring my best tennis in the match. I think for the people, too, it’s great watching our matches. As we’ve said many, many times, we raise our level to the top and bring a really beautiful tennis in these matches. I’m ready to take the challenge. I’m ready to see the things that I did wrong in the last match against him, and try to be better on that side on Monday” Aug. 18.
Alcaraz praised Sinner for “not having any weaknesses. It’s crazy, the way he always plays when he’s at his best. It seems like you have to earn every point, every game. He makes you suffer from the first point of the match until the last ball. The capacity of being there mentally, point after point, not having up and downs in the match makes him really, really special.”
Carlos Alcaraz Leads in the Head-to-Head Matchups
How do they stack up head-to-head?
According to the Cincinnati Open, Sinner and Alcaraz “have faced each other on 13 occasions now, with Alcaraz leading the head-to-head, 8–5.”
Together, though, “they have accounted for eight of the last nine Grand Slam singles titles.”
However, of course, Sinner is coming into Cincinnati off his victory at Wimbledon.
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