Carlos Alcaraz squandered the opportunity to overtake Novak Djokovic in the ATP rankings after the Cincinnati Open following his shocking defeat to Gael Monfils in the second round.
The Spaniard was a red-hot favorite for the title after a stellar summer in Europe, during which he won the French Open and Wimbledon and was a silver medalist in his first Olympics participation in Paris earlier this month.
Despite withdrawing from the first big tournament of the North American hard-court swing in Montreal, Alcaraz was not expected to encounter any significant hurdle early on in his first hard-court match since the Miami Open.
He was also guaranteed to rise higher than third in the rankings if he made the deep end of the draw at the Cincinnati Open, a tournament he came close to winning last year when he held a match point in the final but lost to Djokovic in heartbreaking fashion.
This time, his cause was aided by Djokovic's withdrawal from all wam-up vents before the US Open. At the start of the Cincinnati Open, the Serbian was ranked second and had 8460 points, while Alcaraz, in third, had 7950 points.
But because Djokovic would lose all 1000 points for his absence as defending champion (he defeated Alcaraz in last year's epic final), that would truncate his points tally to 7460.
The 21-year-old from Murcia was in the hot seat to replace him as World No. 2 and seal his spot as the second seed at the upcoming final Grand Slam of the season if he reached at least the quarterfinal in Cincinnati, which would have taken his total points to 7550.
However, that never materialized after Alcaraz lost to Monfils on Friday when their rain-interrupted second-round match resumed. Alcaraz was in control of the match, leading by a set, but he lost the second set in a tie-break.
In the decider, the Frenchman's veteran know-how shone as he took the only break of serve in the set for the upset victory. Alcaraz failed to convert any of the four break points he had in the third set and slumped to his eighth defeat of the season.
He was overwhelmed with disappointment during the match and completely destroyed his racket. Unless he takes a late wild card in Winston-Salem next week, which is an ATP 250, then he won't be able to add to his tally of 7360 points after the Cincinnati Open.
It doesn't look like he will, as Alcaraz normally prioritizes sufficient rest and recovery before a Grand Slam. This means Djokovic will remain as World No. 2 and the second seed for the US Open.
The danger for Alcaraz is that he has not locked the third spot yet, as Alexander Zverev could potentially eclipse him. The German is still in the tournament and will play USA's Ben Shelton in the quarterfinal later on Saturday.
If Zverev wins the whole tournament, he will become the new World No. 2 heading to the US Open. This would mean he would attain a maximum of 7635 points, which would topple Alcaraz's and Djokovic's lead.
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