With Alcaraz Loss, Djokovic Still Leads Battle For Year-End No. 1

Carlos Alcaraz had an opportunity to seize control of the battle for ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by Pepperstone in Shanghai. Instead, Novak Djokovic remains in pole position to claim the honour.

Had Alcaraz reached the final of the Rolex Paris Masters, the Spaniard would have passed Djokovic for first place in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, which serves as a barometer for the year-end No. 1 battle. However, the 20-year-old lost in the Round of 16 to Grigor Dimitrov.

Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin Standings

That result leaves Djokovic in the lead by 500 points with one month to go until the Nitto ATP Finals. There is time for Alcaraz to bridge the gap, but his defeat to Dimitrov could prove an important moment in the battle.

"With this loss, I'm a little bit farther and it's going to be tougher if I want to be No. 1," Alcaraz said. "I have a few tournaments ahead, so I will try to do my best. I will try to win them if I want to have a chance to end the year as No. 1. I don't know, but right right now I lost a lot of opportunities to make it."

Djokovic owns the record for most ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by Pepperstone finishes with seven, the most recent of which came in 2021. Alcaraz last year became the youngest player in history to achieve the feat.

Alcaraz is next scheduled to compete in the Swiss Indoors Basel, an ATP 500 event at which he could earn 500 points and tie Djokovic by winning the title. Both men are set to play in the final ATP Masters 1000 event of the year, the Rolex Paris Masters, the following week.

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