Sinner’s chances to finish No. 1 slightly increased in Paris: “If it happens, good, but…”
Alcaraz’s early loss and Sinner’s journey to the Rolex Paris Masters final changed the perspective on the 2025 final ATP rankings.
Jannik Sinner, Rolex Paris Masters 2025 | © F. Pestellini / psNewz
Fresh off a dominant semi-final victory against Alexander Zverev at the Rolex Paris Masters, Italian star Jannik Sinner downplayed the immediate prospect of reclaiming the World No. 1 ranking, stating his focus remains squarely on his performance in the final.
Sinner, World No. 2 since his final loss at the US Open eight weeks ago, demolished defending champion Alexander Zverev 6-0, 6-1 on Saturday to advance to his third Masters 1000 final of the season, after Rome and Cincinnati, both of which he lost.
A victory in Sunday’s final would see him leapfrog Carlos Alcaraz for the top spot for at least one week, before the ATP Finals (November 8-17). “It’s not changing much, you know, if you become number one in the world for one or two weeks,” Sinner added.
Sinner, however, adopted a pragmatic approach to the ranking race, framing the opportunity as a secondary consequence of his play. “This is all a consequence of how I’m gonna play tomorrow,” Sinner told reporters. “I’m very focused on trying to play as good as I can. If it happens, good. If not, it’s, you know, next time.”
siNNER’S Perspective on the atp Ranking
Sinner also suggested that a temporary rise to the summit would not drastically alter his season outlook, which has already been stellar with his maiden Grand Slam title at Wimbledon. “From my side and from my point of view, it has been an incredible season. Many great moments, many new things happened.” When he arrived in Paris on Tuesday, he said the spot would be a goal for the 2026 season.
But in Paris, the Italian’s path to the top ranking was significantly and unexpectedly opened by the early exit of current World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, who was stunned by Cameron Norrie in the second round earlier this week.
The Year-End Scenarios at the ATP rankings
The scenarios for Sinner to end the 2025 season at the top require that he defends his points (or wins his trophy) in Turin, combined with poor results from Alcaraz:
- If Sinner goes 5-0 (five wins, zero losses) in Turin and Alcaraz loses one group stage match and does not reach the final.
- If Sinner goes 4-1 and Alcaraz does not win more than one match.
- If Sinner goes 3-2 and Alcaraz wins no matches.
One of Félix Auger-Aliassime’s potential outcomes on Sunday will be to clinch the Race for the number one spot for Alcaraz. However, Sinner could still finish at the top with a perfect 5-0 run in Turin and zero wins by Alcaraz.
