Jannik Sinner secures year-end World No. 1 after Carlos Alcaraz’s Shanghai defeat

Carlos Alcaraz’s defeat at the Shanghai Masters has guaranteed Jannik Sinner will finish as world No. 1 for the first time in his career. The Spaniard was defeated in the quarterfinals by 30th seed Tomas Machac from the Czech Republic, ending his Asian swing.

Sinner’s victory over Daniil Medvedev, which secured him a spot in the semifinals, extended his lead in the ATP Rankings by 4,000 points, while in the ATP Race, the margin is just over 3,000 points. Both Sinner and Alcaraz have only two tournaments left: the Paris Masters and the ATP Finals in Turin.

This means that, at most, Alcaraz could earn 2,500 points from these two tournaments if he wins both. Even with those points, he would still trail Sinner by over 500 points by the end of the season.

Moreover, Sinner still has a strong chance to add points before the year ends. The world No. 1 is in the semifinals in Shanghai and will be favored in Paris and Turin, giving him a solid opportunity to finish the season with a significant lead over Alcaraz, especially considering he will defend his Australian Open title at the start of 2025.

Alexander Zverev also had a slim chance of catching Sinner, but his elimination in the Round of 16 in Shanghai keeps him in third place in the rankings.

The 23-year-old Italian became No. 1 on June 10 and has so far spent 18 weeks at the top. By the end of the season, he will have reached 30 weeks as world No. 1, placing him 17th in the all-time list, just behind Carlos Alcaraz's 36 weeks.

This will also be the first time Sinner finishes the season as world No. 1, a feat only five players have achieved since 2004: Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, and Alcaraz.