ATP Tour

Sinner ignites scintillating battle for year-end No. 1 with Wimbledon victory

Jannik Sinner did more than win the Wimbledon title against Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday. The Italian also ignited a fierce battle with his great rival for ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honours.

Alcaraz leaves The Championships with a 1,540-point advantage in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, which serves as a measuring stick for the year-end No. 1 chase. However, by claiming the grass-court major, Sinner significantly cut into the Spaniard's lead.

Had Alcaraz earned his third consecutive Wimbledon trophy by beating Sinner, he would have led the Live Race by 2,940 points. Instead, Sinner's victory caused a 1,400-point swing and he is now hot on the 22-year-old's heels heading into the North American hard-court season.

PIF ATP Live Race To Turin

Alcaraz and Sinner currently stand alone in the year-end No. 1 battle. Novak Djokovic is in third place in the Live Race with 3,380 points, but he is 2,620 points behind second-placed Sinner and a whopping 4,160 points behind first-placed Alcaraz.

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Alcaraz became the first qualifier for the 2025 Nitto ATP Finals when he reached the semi-finals at SW19 and he will try to lift his first trophy at the season finale in November. Sinner, now the winner of two major titles this season, is closing in on his own qualification.

Three of the top eight players in the Live Race have never competed in the year-end championships. Fifth-placed Jack Draper (2,940 points), sixth-placed Lorenzo Musetti (2,610 points) and eighth-placed Ben Shelton (2,210 points) are trying to secure their Turin debuts.

There is plenty up for grabs in the coming weeks, with only 1,170 points separating third-placed Djokovic and eighth-placed Shelton. The gap between second-placed Sinner and Djokovic (2,620 points) is more than double that gap.

Seventh-placed Taylor Fritz made the Wimbledon semi-finals to surge seven spots from 14th and move into a qualifying position. The American competed at the Nitto ATP Finals in 2022 and 2024, advancing to the championship match one year ago.

Things can change quickly in the Live Race, with a lot of points up for grabs in coming weeks, including ATP Masters 1000 events in Toronto and Cincinnati. Only 490 points separate Shelton and 14th-placed Andrey Rublev, who has 1,720 points.