Novak Djokovic is still not world No. 1 despite his win at the Cincinnati Open this week, but he has put himself in an advantageous position to take the top spot from Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open.

23-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic, currently ranked at No. 2 in the Pepperstone ATP singles rankings, prevailed over world No. 1 Alcaraz in the Cincinnati Open final this week. The Spaniard took the first set 7-5, but the Serb fought back hard to win both tiebreaks in the second and third sets and thus claim the Western & Southern Open title.

This served as a re-match of the Wimbledon final last month, where Alcaraz defeated seven-time SW19 champion Djokovic to lift the trophy at the All England Club for the first time and solidify his No. 1 position.

However, Djokovic's victory in Cincinnati was not quite enough to dethrone Alcaraz. This is despite the fact that the 36-year-old had the advantage of 0 ranking points to defend at the tournament, as he was barred from entering the US for last year's North American swing due to his unvaccinated status.

However, he still needed to win the tournament and for Alcaraz not to make the final in order to go into the US Open as the top seed. While the first half of that came true, giving him a fresh 1000 ranking points, the 20-year-old also made the final, meaning that he earned just enough points to stay ahead of Djokovic for now.

Alcaraz currently has 9815 points, just 20 points more than Djokovic, who currently sits at 9795. This puts the latter in a very strong position to take the No. 1 spot at the last Grand Slam of the year at Flushing Meadows, as regardless of how well Alcaraz does, all Djokovic needs to do is win one match, something that he is highly likely to achieve.

Nevertheless, Djokovic will still stay behind Alcaraz for now in the ATP Race, even if he takes the top spot from the young player in New York. This means that Alcaraz will stay ahead in pole position to end the year as No. 1, currently with 7455 points compared to Djokovic's 6945. 

If Nole picks up a 24th major title by winning the US Open, he would find himself ahead of Alcaraz in the race. However, if the Spaniard wins the title instead it could be difficult for Djokovic to overtake him as there are no more Grand Slams this year and only a handful of high-rewarding tournaments left.