Jannik Sinner could also be nicely forward of Carlos Alcaraz within the rankings however Italian tennis legend Paolo Bertolucci is warning his compatriot to "watch his again" as a result of the Spaniard is lurking his alternative to return to the highest spot.
After successful his maiden Wimbledon title crown, Sinner is 3,430 rating factors forward of Alcaraz. Nonetheless, not the whole lot about that’s excellent. Throughout the following month, the Italian may have 3,000 factors to defend since he received the Cincinnati Masters and US Open final yr. On the opposite aspect, the Spaniard barely has any factors to defend since he misplaced in his Cincinnati opener final yr and solely made the US Open second spherical.
Except one thing drastic occurs, there is no such thing as a means Alcaraz will repeat such a catastrophic North American hard-court swing. And since Sinner has plenty of factors to defend, Bertolucci suggests the brand new four-time Grand Slam champion merely should do nicely within the upcoming interval or in any other case he might simply lose the highest spot.
Bertolucci: Sinner should watch his again from Alcaraz
"Now in Cincinnati, Jannik might want to instantly ship a high-level efficiency to consolidate the factors he’s gained or make up for these he’ll lose. He’ll have to observe his again from the Spaniard, now his solely actual rival for the world quantity No. 1 spot," the 74-year-old advised Italian media.
"The Spaniard has adopted the identical path as Sinner and also will restart on the scorching American exhausting courts of Cincinnati, however in contrast to the Italian, regardless of being behind within the rankings, he may have only a few factors to defend on this ultimate stretch of the 2025 season. Solely two males in command, two gamers with very totally different technical and behavioral traits, however each conscious of the respective strengths of their essential opponent."
Even when Sinner manages to defend his factors from Cincinnati and the US Open, the hole between him and Alcaraz will nonetheless possible be smaller after the ultimate Grand Slam of the yr, just because the Spaniard can solely achieve factors and never drop throughout this era.
