Jannik Sinner's lead at No. 1 became even more formidable after the Shanghai Masters in the latest ATP rankings.
The Italian's memorable season continued by beating Novak Djokovic in the final of the penultimate Masters-1000 tournament of the year in Shanghai after a classy performance.
Sinner has been excellent throughout the season, but his dominance on hardcourts has been particularly notable. He has won six of his seven titles on this surface, and the other was on grass at the Halle Open.
His triumph at the Shanghai Masters was his third Masters-1000 title of 2024. The others were at the Miami Open and Canadian Open, overcoming Grigor Dimitrov and Frances Tiafoe in those finals.
Those successes and his two Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open and US Open make it easy to understand why he is at the top, and Sinner was already guaranteed to end the year at world No. 1 when Alcaraz lost to Tomas Machac in Shanghai.
However, Sinner's lead was extended further after his achievement in Shanghai. He has 11,920 ranking points to his name. That is 4,800 points more than Alcaraz at No. 2.
Although Sinner is set to defend many points before the end of this season and at the start of next year at the Australian Open, it is still unlikely that any player will be able to overtake him by then due to the significant lead he has built.
Djokovic's week in Shanghai, where he received superb support, was still positive despite his loss in the final. However, finishing as the runner-up was not enough to affect his ranking, and he remains at No. 4 behind Sinner, Alcaraz, and Alexander Zverev.
Hubert Hurkacz was the defending champion at the start of the Shanghai Masters. Unfortunately for the Pole, he had to withdraw from this year's iteration of the tournament due to a knee injury.
Dropping the 1,000 points he won last year means Hurkacz is now outside the Top 10. He fell from No. 8 to No. 12 in the latest rankings and might drop further if he cannot play until the end of the season.
Alex de Minaur took Hurkacz's place in the Top 10. He rose from No. 11 to No. 9 despite not playing in Shanghai due to an injury. Grigor Dimitrov retained his spot at No. 10 in the rankings.
Tomas Machac, who was stopped in the semifinal by Sinner in Shanghai, was rewarded for his run by jumping eight places from No. 33 to No. 25. His improvements this year have been very impressive.
Jakub Mensik was another Czech who rose significantly in the rankings. Last week's quarterfinalist in Shanghai went from No. 65 to No. 51, and it would have been even better if he had not lost a tight quarterfinal to Djokovic.
Other notable changes in the latest rankings included David Goffin, who defeated Alexander Zverev in his quarterfinal run in Shanghai, rising 13 places to No. 53, and Sebastian Korda falling three spots to No. 22.
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