On Saturday, Jannik Sinner’s defence of the Canadian Open championship was abruptly ended when the world No. 1 was defeated in three sets by Andrey Rublev.
The world No.. 1 Italian won handily, but this week there will be a big change in the number of points.
We examine how the top three’s fight for position might play out over the course of the upcoming week or so.
Right now
After winning his first Masters 1000 title at the Toronto event a year ago, Sinner was the reigning champion at the Canadian Open.
After that win, he received 1,000 ranking points; but, since the competition only awards 200 points to quarterfinalists, he will now only have 800 points.
Sinner, who currently has 9,570 points, will drop to 8,770 when the rankings are updated, briefly narrowing his lead over Djokovic and Alcaraz.
Since Djokovic did not participate in the tournament the previous year either, his points are unaltered, and he is expected to have 8,460 points.
Alcaraz will lose ground on Sinner, but only by a small margin.
After withdrawing this year, the Spaniard will drop 180 ranking points, from 8,130 to 7,950.
Everybody’s eyes are on Cincinnati
Now, all eyes are on Cincinnati for the second Masters 1000 event of the summer, and whether Sinner will be competing there or not.
After losing to Rublev, the Italian stated that he was “not 100%” sure he would compete in the tournament, but it might still be a significant week for him in terms of maintaining his ranking as the top player.
Sinner will only lose 45 ranking points if he decides to withdraw because he was defeated in round two a year ago.
It will also be simple for him to get ranking points and solidify his place as the top male player in the world if he is well enough to compete.
Either way, his case is only helped by the fact that Djokovic will not be defending his title.
The Serbian is still resting after his Olympic triumph in Paris and will not compete until his US Open title defence at the end of August.
That means he will drop 1,000 ranking points and fall to 7,460 points, once again well behind Sinner.
If he were to win the title, the Italian would lead Djokovic by over 2,000 points, though that is a big ‘if’ in the circumstances.
Alcaraz is perhaps the player to keep an eye on in Cincinnati, with the Spaniard back in action for the first time since the Olympics, and arguably the favourite for the title.
The world No. 1 reached the final a year ago, earning 600 points for doing so, so he does have a chunk of points to defend himself.
But with Djokovic out, there is a strong chance for Alcaraz to finish the tournament as world No 2 – and victory would move him 400 points closer to Sinner and within striking distance of No 1.
