Alcaraz maintains his position as the world number one

The points difference between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner on the ATP leaderboard did not change last week.

Sinner’s 15-month reign at number one ended after Alcaraz defeated him in the 2025 US Open final. The Spanish player delivered an outstanding performance, winning in four sets, serving as a sweet revenge following his loss in the 2025 Wimbledon final.

Earlier, the two also faced off in the 2025 Roland Garros final, where Alcaraz shocked everyone by saving three championship points in the deciding set to complete a remarkable comeback. Thus, they have competed against each other in the last three Grand Slam finals.

Since the US Open, neither Alcaraz nor Sinner has participated in any other point-scoring tournaments. The world number one recently played in the Laver Cup last week but was unable to help Team Europe avoid a 9-15 defeat against Team World.

Currently, Alcaraz holds 11,540 points, leading Sinner by 760 points (Sinner has 10,780). Although this margin still allows Sinner hope to reclaim the top spot, he faces significant challenges. The Italian must defend 2,500 points from last year's ATP Finals and Shanghai Masters titles, plus 330 points from being runner-up at the 2024 China Open (where he lost to Alcaraz after a tense three-hour match).

Meanwhile, Alcaraz only needs to defend 500 points from his championship in Beijing nearly a year ago, with fewer points to protect in other events. This means Sinner must perform exceptionally well and hope that Alcaraz’s form declines. Otherwise, finishing the year as number one will be an impossible task.

The ATP Top 10 remains unchanged: Alexander Zverev holds 3rd place, Novak Djokovic 4th, Taylor Fritz 5th, Ben Shelton 6th, Jack Draper 7th, Alex de Minaur 8th, Lorenzo Musetti 9th, and Karen Khachanov 10th.

The Chengdu Open and Hangzhou Open will conclude on September 23, with Musetti facing Alejandro Tabilo in the Chengdu final, and Alexander Bublik competing against Valentin Royer in Hangzhou.

The reason there is no movement within the Top 48 is because these tournaments have not yet finished. However, outside the Top 50, there are some notable changes. Matteo Berrettini, returning from injury and playing for the first time since Wimbledon, lost his opening match in Hangzhou to Dalibor Svrcina but still moved up to rank 57.

Marin Cilic, the 2014 US Open champion, was defeated in the first round of the 2025 Hangzhou Open but rose to rank 59, following his historic achievement last year when he won the tournament despite a low ranking.

Sebastian Korda continues to struggle regaining form after a long injury break, dropping to rank 79. Other changes include Kei Nishikori rising to 91, Hubert Hurkacz climbing to 71, while Jacob Fearnley fell 10 places to 64.