Jannik Sinner was forced to watch from home as Alexander Zverev defeated Ben Shelton in the US Open final to become a two-time Grand Slam champion.
Zverev has impressively capitalised on injuries to Carlos Alcaraz and Sinner this year in order to win both Roland Garros and the US Open.
As a result of his win at Flushing Meadows, there are just 1810 ranking points between Zverev and Sinner at the very top of the ATP Tour rankings.
Zverev will be looking to usurp Sinner in the final stretch of the season and the Italian could have to fight off more than just his German rival.
Sinner is expected to return to the fold at the China Open, which begins on September 30th. It will kickstart a very difficult period for the Italian.
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Not only does he have to try and get back up to speed on the ATP Tour having not played a competitive tournament since Wimbledon in July, but he is also defending a lot of ranking points.
The Italian still has 3,550 points to defend between now and the curtain closer at the ATP Finals in November.
That’s because Sinner won the China Open, the Vienna Open, the Paris Masters, and the ATP Finals this time last year.
Sinner will have to match those tournament titles in order to keep hold of his ranking points to try and continue his ascendency over Zverev.
The only tournament that Sinner will play without increased pressure on him before the end of the 2026 season is the Shanghai Masters, which takes place between October 7th and 18th.
That’s because Sinner was beaten in the round of 32 of the Masters tournament in 2025, as fatigue issues saw him toppled by Tallon Griekspoor.
We currently have no idea the fitness that Sinner is at and it’s certainly not ideal to have to reach the latter stages of several tournaments when you haven’t played for several months.
The only upside for Sinner is he has proved that he can beat the ATP Tour’s very best even when he is lacking in match practice.
The Italian won Wimbledon without a warm-up tournament on grass, which included victories over the likes of Novak Djokovic, Zverev, and Jenson Brooksby.
Nevertheless, Zverev will be delighted to see that Sinner is defending so many ranking points during this stretch. Zverev, alternatively, is defending just 1,040 ranking points before the end of the 2026 season.
Zverev also didn’t win a tournament during this period in 2025, so he has plenty of opportunities to pick up the ranking points to oust Sinner from the summit of the ATP Tour.
