Cincinnati may host a meeting between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.

By declaring that one of his “main goals” is to finish the 2024 season as the ATP world No. 1, Carlos Alcaraz has sent a message to Jannik Sinner.

The Spaniard stressed the significance of the Race to the ATP Finals for him and disclosed that he is always targeted on reaching No. 1.

Alcaraz is in Cincinnati for his first competition since losing to Novak Djokovic in an exciting gold medal match at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, where he took home a silver medal.

Currently ranked third with 7,950 points in the ATP Rankings, the 21-year-old trails only world No. 1 Sinner (8,770 points) and world No. 2 Novak Djokovic (8,460 points).

Alcaraz finished second in the Cincinnati Masters in 2023, so in order to increase his point total this year, he must either win or make it to the final of the Masters 1000 event.

450 points behind Sinner, who leads the ATP Race to Turin Rankings with 6,410 points, is the four-time Grand Slam champion, who is ranked second with 5,960 points. To decide the eight qualifiers for the ATP Finals, which conclude the season, the Race Rankings only take into account points from the current year.

Alcaraz expressed his desire to challenge Sinner in the Race and at the top of the ATP Rankings in a speech given ahead of the Cincinnati Masters.

The world No. 3 stated, “Obviously, my goal is to be No. 1 every time I am [behind], and the race is an important ranking for me.”

“If you finish the race first at the end of the year, you will finish first because the standings are really comparable. I’m concentrating a lot on that.

“My goal is to improve my performance in the race by participating in every match, thinking about how to play excellent tennis, and achieving good results.

One of my current key goals for this year is to finish the year as the best. I’m excited to give it a try, so let’s see.

“I’m competing to win the race; if I’m successful in the future, I would really like to achieve that as quickly as possible.

“I think this is a pretty nice competition and a really important one. I will thus make an effort to play well and at the same level as I was, and we shall see.

Alcaraz, the No. 2 seed in Cincinnati, will take on Alexei Popyrin or Gael Monfils in his opening match. In the hard-court tournament final, Sinner and the Spaniard might square off.