When it comes to men’s tennis, there are two players who are ruling the circuit currently. Well, no prizes for guessing, as Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have dominated men’s tennis over the past couple of years. Be it Grand Slams or big tournaments like the Masters 1000 events, one can often find them on the podium, with the pair splitting the last 8 Slams between them. Moreover, their dominance is well reflected in the ATP rankings, with a big gulf between Sinner in 2nd and Alexander Zverev in 3rd. The race to year-end World No. 1 ranking is a 2-horse race, so here’s a look at how they can each finish the season in that top spot.

Alcaraz reached the top of the rankings with his US Open win against Jannik Sinner, earning him 2,000 points. He cemented his position at the top by winning the Japan Open, an ATP 500 event. Currently, Alcaraz has 11,540 points to his name, while Sinner is 760 points behind at 10,780. That said, the Italian is through to his third consecutive final at the China Open, where he can narrow that gap by earning 500 points of his own.

But as we go deeper into the Asian swing, there’s a lot at stake ahead and it could be anyone’s game as far as the race to the top at year-end is concerned. For Sinner, he can return to the top of the ATP rankings chart as early as October 27. However, he faces a monumental challenge ahead and will have to win in Beijing tomorrow, followed by Shanghai, and then Vienna, if he has to accomplish that.

The Italian will be off to a solid start if he wins at Beijing, with Alcaraz withdrawing from Shanghai—a 1,000 point tournament—due to the injury he sustained in Tokyo. Sinner is the defending champion in Shanghai and hadn’t played in Vienna last year.

But things don’t look as straightforward as it sounds. Sinner is also the defending champion at the ATP Finals and will be defending 1,500 points whereas Alcaraz has to defend just 200 points. Even if Sinner becomes the World Number 1 on October 27th, he could lose it the next week due to the ATP Finals points drop. For him to reclaim the top spot, he’ll have to hope that he wins the ATP Finals and that Alcaraz is unable to make a deep run at the tournament.

Meanwhile, Sinner hasn’t hid his feelings about losing the top spot to Alcaraz after the US Open. Although he was disappointed with it, the Italian star was all praise of Alcaraz for getting there.

Jannik Sinner heaps praise on Carlos Alcaraz

Despite being on the opposite ends of the court in some big encounters, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have always maintained a good bonding on and off the court. With mutual respect between the two, they have displayed true sportsman spirit. Moreover, Sinner was among the first ones to congratulate Alcaraz on being the World Number 1 with a special message.

He said, “Carlos has been really exceptional in recent months: he has played more tournaments than me and has always expressed a very high level, winning several titles. Having achieved those extraordinary results, he deserved to become world number 1. There are still several important tournaments between now and the end of the season and I will give my best. The only thing I can say is that I am very satisfied with my season and I don’t pay too much attention to the ATP ranking.”

That said, Sinner himself didn’t rule out his chances at taking the top spot back from Alcaraz. “The season’s not over yet,” he said at the China Open. “We still have here. We have Shanghai, very big. We have Paris, which is very big. Turin, Davis Cup. Still big tournaments to come. Obviously the biggest, they are gone, with the Grand Slams, and we split those.”

Meanwhile, Jannik will have his task cut out if he has to finish at the top of the ATP rankings chart at the end of the season. Who do you think will enter the new season as the World Number 1? Let us know your views in the comments below.