Carlos Alcaraz has a danger of losing his World No.1 ranking ahead of the US Open this year. The 20-year old is the defending champion at the year-end Grand Slam event. However with Novak Djokovic returning to the USA, Alcaraz’s hold on his current ranking is under threat.
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Carlos Alcaraz crashed out from the quarterfinal at the Canadian Open much recently. He lost to American Tommy Paul. With the loss, his unbeaten streak of 14 games came to an end. Following his result at the Canadian Open, Alcaraz will only be 600 points above Djokovic in the latest ATP Rankings that will be unveiled on Monday, 14th August.
Alcaraz also has to defend points at the Cincinnati Masters and US Open. He bowed out from the quarterfinal at Cincinnati last year, while he is the defending champion at the US Open. Djokovic meanwhile has no points to defend. He missed all the tournaments in USA last season as he was not allowed to travel to the country due to his Covid-19 non-vaccination status.
Scenario for Djokovic to surpass Carlos Alcaraz
If Alcaraz loses in the quarterfinal stage at the Cincinnati, an appearance in the final for Djokovic will be enough for him to surpass the Spaniard in the rankings. In case of this scenario, it will be a huge boost for Djokovic as it will help him enter the US Open as the top seed.
Carlos Alcaraz has a tough draw at the Cincinnati Masters, as he is set to face Tommy Paul yet again in the third round. He is also likely to face fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semifinal.
Djokovic too meanwhile has a challenging draw. He could be facing Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the second round. In the quarterfinal, he is likely to set up clash against in-form Jannik Sinner.
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