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Carlos Alcaraz vs. Jannik Sinner: Part IV was set to be a preview of the US Open. Instead, it may be a sign that the door is open for the rest of the field at this year’s final Grand Slam.
Sinner retired from the final of the Cincinnati Open on Monday “due to illness,” handing Alcaraz the title for the ATP 1000 tournament and its record $1.1 million prize. It was the fourth time since May that the two have played in a tournament final, with Alcaraz winning at the Italian Open and French Open, and Sinner taking the most recent face-off in Wimbledon.
The win brings Alcaraz to nearly $48.5 million in career earnings. He remains sixth in the world, but closed the gap to Alexander Zverev, who is close to $54.5 million after being knocked out in the Cincinnati semis by Alcaraz.
Sinner won around $600,000 for his runner-up finish in Cincinnati—which had a prize pool of $9.2 million, up 35% from last year. He is up to $46.2 million, good for eighth all-time and less than $1 million back of Daniil Medvedev for seventh.
Cincy Crown, Open Lock?
The Cincinnati Open, which debuted its $260 million upgrades this year, has long served as a preview for the US Open. For the last two years, the two tournaments have shared the same men’s and women’s singles champions (2023: Coco Gauff and Novak Djokovic, 2024: Aryna Sabalenka and Sinner).
It’s unclear whether Sinner’s illness will linger into next week and hamper his US Open title defense. He withdrew from the US Open mixed doubles event just hours before the two-day event which starts Tuesday.
Regardless of whether Sinner is ready, Monday’s loss means he will relinquish the top spot in the world rankings for the first time since June 2024. Alcaraz will enter the US Open as the top-ranked men’s player, reclaiming the top spot for the first time since September 2023.
Ahead of Monday’s final, Alcaraz referred to Sinner as “the best player in the world on hard court, and probably on every surface.”
