Carlos Alcaraz could lose his number-one ranking after the 2023 Cincinnati Masters, but his win over Jordan Thompson keeps him at the top for now.
The Spaniard will battle Novak Djokovic for the number one spot for the rest of the year as they're separated by about 400 points right now. Realistically his chances are rather slim, considering that Djokovic doesn't really defend anything during this part of the year, having been barred from entry last year.
On the other hand, Alcaraz has to defend 2000 points at the US Open as champion, making it a very tough undertaking. He needs to keep winning matches to keep himself ahead of the Serbian, and that's what he did in the first round of the Cincinnati Masters.
Alcaraz faced a very inspired Jordan Thompson as they tried to navigate a late start and a mid-match rain delay. The first few games saw Alcaraz miss out on some early break points, which was disappointing as he got broke not long after that.
He'd pull it back immediately and outplay his Australian opponent down the stretch to win the opening set. Both players struggled with their serve, but Alcaraz found a few winners more when it mattered the most, and that was enough. The Spaniard desperately tried to avoid losing early as he did in Toronto, as Thompson gave him plenty of problems.
The Australian pushed heavily at the start of the second set, eventually getting the break 4-2 behind superb play. Thompson came two points away from winning the set in consecutive games but failed to get it done giving Alcaraz a lifeline. A 3rd 'two points away' situation presented itself and this time around Thompson got it done sending the match into a decider at 00:22 local time.
The reset of play benefitted Alcaraz more as the Spaniard came out with a lot of fire, swiftly going up 2-0. Both struggled with their serves again, but Thompson also struggled with control. He had more unforced errors in the first three games than in the second set.
In the end, that early break proved crucial as Thompson never regained the precision he had in the second set, while Alcaraz played considerably better. The final score was 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 for Alcaraz, who had 34 winners and 15 unforced errors. The match lasted over 3 hours finishing at 01:02 local time.
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