Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic are separated by just 20 points after a dramatic conclusion to this year's Cincinnati Masters.
Djokovic saved a championship point and needed five bites himself to get over the finish line to lift the title at the Western & Southern Open for a third time. Djokovic needed Alcaraz to stumble before the final to leave Mason, Ohio with the World No. 1 ranking. That didn't happen but it only delayed the inevitable.
Nevertheless, beating Alcaraz in that pulsating final puts him within touching distance of top spot again. At the start of last week, Alcaraz held a 600-point cushion over Djokovic, but by winning the title, the Serb ate into that lead and now sits just 20 points behind him.
With Alcaraz defending 2,000 ranking points at the US Open, it means the young Spaniard can't add more to his points in New York after winning it last year. Djokovic, by contrast, doesn't defend any points and will surpass Alcaraz by winning his opening match, guaranteeing him at least 45 points, putting him on 9,840 points which would be more than Alcaraz's total even if defended his crown.
In short, Alcaraz is powerless from retaining his spot at the summit. All Djokovic needs is to avoid an upset in his opening match. What is perhaps astounding is that had Alcaraz converted his missed championship point in the Cincinnati final, then he would have established an 820-point gap between him and Djokovic.
In that case, the 23-time Grand Slam winner would have needed to reach the US Open final at the very least to knock off Alcaraz from his perch. But while Djokovic is odds-on to leave New York as the No. 1, he defends a huge chunk of ranking points during the final stretch of the season, and the pendulum could swing in Alcaraz's favor.
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