UK: 18+ USA: 21+ | Begambleaware.org | T&Cs apply | Play Responsibly
For the period covering August 13th to August 20th on the ATP Tour, all eyes were on one tournament in particular. Of course, that tournament was the 2023 Cincinnati Open, and the final of this 1000-level event was completed last night. If you caught the match, you were treated to one of the best matches of the entire season. Novak Djokovic managed to fight back and take down the world number one, Carlos Alcaraz, in a simply thrilling three-set battle. And as this match went down to the wire, it was the 36-year-old Serbian that managed to hold his nerve and take out the Spaniard.
With that said, the victory does not take Djokovic beyond Alcaraz in the ATP rankings. As a result, I can say with 100% confidence that the US Open seeds will be Carlos Alcaraz as number one and Novak Djokovic as number two. However, while the battle between these guys captured most of the headlines last week, the Cincinnati Open was a phenomenal event for other guys on the ATP Tour.
As we work our way through these ATP rankings updates, you will soon get an idea of just how phenomenal it was for a few key players. On that note, let’s start running through the specifics right now.
ATP rankings updates – week commencing August 21st
Contents
There are certain weeks on the ATP Tour when there is a range of tournaments being held, and these can be at all levels. But for the last 7 days, there was just one ATP-sanctioned event that was played. Of course, this was the 2023 Cincinnati Open. Therefore, most of the ATP rankings updates regarding individual players are directly related to that tournament, as discussed below.
The week’s biggest climbers
It was a rather impressive week for Australians in Cincinnati. In fact, two of the three players who have made the biggest leaps in the rankings are indeed Aussies. Yet there is another man that swept in to spoil a potential Australian hat trick, as highlighted here.
Max Purcell: +23
Max Purcell is the official climber of the week following the completion of the Cincinnati Open. This Australian has put together a sublime couple of weeks between Toronto and Cincinnati. He actually came through qualifying in both events, yet Cincinnati was his best performance so far. Specifically, Max Purcell made it through to the quarter-finals before losing a tight three-setter to Carlos Alcaraz.
Due to the points he racked up, he has jumped 23 places up to 47, which is the first time he has cracked the top 50.
Alexei Popyrin: +18
Did you follow the story of Alexei Popyrin’s lucky loser journey in Cincinnati last week? Having lost in the final round of qualifying, he enjoyed a few strokes of luck to make it into the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Open. The 24-year-old beat a fellow lucky loser and received a walkover into the third round of this event before beating Ruusuvuori and making the quarters. And thanks to such a good run, he has jumped 18 spots to number 40.
Dusan Lajovic: +14
Who said that the Aussies were going to have all the fun in Cincinnati? If you look at what Dusan Lajovic accomplished last week, some of his performances were just as good as the two guys mentioned above. The 33-year-old Serbian beat two Aussies in qualifying, ironically, and he then took out Francisco Cerundolo and Jannik Sinner back to back – without dropping a set. He ultimately withdrew during his match with Taylor Fritz, but what a tournament, and his +14 leap to number 52 is well deserved.
The week’s biggest fallers
It may have been a top week for the three guys discussed above, but it’s been a rough one for the following three players. They each find themselves in the red zone for the ATP rankings updates this week.
Pedro Cachin: -17
Pedro Cachin hasn’t actually competed since the start of August. This was at a 250 event in Austria, in which he lost in the quarter-finals. Yet having failed to compete over the previous seven days, he has lost points and dropped down to 66 in the world ahead of the US Open. This drop of 17 places makes him the week’s biggest faller, sadly.
Borna Coric: -13
It was always going to be a struggle for Borna Coric to maintain his ATP ranking at the Cincinnati Open. After all, he was the defending champion, so anything less than a title win would essentially guarantee a drop in his ranking. Yet because he lost in the second round, the drop of 13 places to number 29 is no doubt worse than what he’d hoped for.
Marcos Giron: -9
Marcos Giron enjoyed a good start to the hard-court swing, qualifying in Canada and reaching the third round. Yet he lost in the first round of qualifying in Cincinnati to Diego Schwartzman. As a result, he’s dropped down the ATP rankings by 9 positions – taking him to number 63.
Arthur Rinderknech: -9
The Frenchman, Arthur Rinderknech, matched the 9-place drop of Marcos Giron this week, so these two guys get to share the third prize – not that they’d like to be in this position. Rinderknech last competed in the same 250 event as Cachin, and following a few weeks’ absence from the tour, he has fallen to number 73.
Top ATP rankings story – Djokovic and Alcaraz separated by just 20 points
The final of the Cincinnati Open, which was played last night, certainly lived up to the hype. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that the clash between Djokovic and Alcaraz was just as entertaining as the Wimbledon final. This match had everything, including a match point for Carlos Alcaraz in the second set. And while Djokovic struggled early on in the heat, once these guys got to the end of the third set, it was Alcaraz that started to show serious signs of fatigue.
As for the impact on the ATP rankings this week, with Djokovic increasing his tally by 1000 points and Alcaraz increasing his by 420, the two are now separated by just 20 points. So not only are these two almost inseparable on the court, they are practically inseparable off it!
Subscribe to Punditfeed on Google News for all the latest updates from the world of sports!
