Djokovic closes in Alcaraz after Cincinnati title

NEW DELHI: The 23-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic edged closer to Carlos Alcaraz’s No. 1 position following his Cincinnati Masters triumph as per the latest ATP Rankings released on Monday.

Djokovic saved one championship point en route to a 5-7, 7-6(7), 7-6(4) victory against Alcaraz for the Cincin-nati title which saw him reduce the gap between the two players to just 20 points.

Alcaraz narrowly held onto the No.1 place in the rankings with 9,815 points while Djokovic sits on 9,795.

Although Alcaraz leaves Cincinnati as the No.1 player in the ATP Rankings, Djokovic will enter the US Open just 20 points behind with an excellent chance to reclaim the top spot because the Spaniard is defending 2,000 points at US Open.

The 36-year-old is the overwhelming favourite to leave Flushing Meadows in the top spot. All the Serbian needs to do in New York to guarantee his return to World No.1 is win his first-round match, putting a return to the top spot completely in his hands during the coming fortnight.

Elsewhere in the top 10, Holger Rune reached a new career-high of No.4 despite his second-round retirement in Cincinnati following Daniil Medvedev, who remains well clear of the rest of the pack in third place.

Rune’s rankings rise was helped by Stefanos Tsitsipas, who failed to defend his runner-up points from last year’s Cincinnati Masters and thus dropped to seventh.

Tsitsipas’ slip also helped Norway’s Casper Ruud move back up to fifth while Jannik Sinner stays put in sixth place. Andrey Rublev (eighth), Taylor Fritz (ninth) and Frances Tiafoe (10th) complete the top 10. (IANS)

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