Italian tennis star Jannik Sinner has reclaimed the world’s top ranking, marking a significant return to form just months after serving a suspension for an anti-doping violation.
Sinner, 24, secured his ascent to world No. 1 after winning the Paris Masters 1000 tournament, where he defeated Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 7-6 (7) in the final. This victory places him ahead of Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz in the latest rankings released this Monday.
Alcaraz’s early exit in the second round of the French tournament opened the door for Sinner to claim the top spot, provided he won the Paris title. This achievement comes after Sinner was sidelined for three months earlier this year due to a positive anti-doping test.
The Paris Masters was Sinner’s final event before the ATP Finals, scheduled to run from Sunday to November 16 in Turin, Italy.
The tournament also finalized three of the last four qualification spots for the ATP Finals, with Americans Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz, and Australian Alex De Minaur securing their places. They will join Sinner, Alcaraz, Germany’s Alexander Zverev, and Serbia’s Novak Djokovic at the season-ending championship.
In other ranking movements, Shelton moved up to sixth place, pushing De Minaur to seventh. Auger-Aliassime climbed to eighth, securing the final ATP Finals spot and surpassing Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti and Norway’s Casper Ruud, now ranked ninth and tenth respectively.
In doubles, Francisco Cabral, 28, made history by becoming the first Portuguese player to enter the top 20, rising three positions to 20th in the ATP hierarchy. Cabral, partnering with Austria’s Lucas Miedler, reached the semifinals of the Paris Masters 1000 before losing to Britain’s Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool.
Cabral had previously set a record for Portuguese doubles players by surpassing João Sousa’s 26th place ranking in 2019. Sousa was also the only Portuguese player to reach a Masters 1000 doubles semifinal, achieving runner-up status in Rome in 2018 and reaching the semifinals in Madrid in 2019.
Nuno Borges, 28, remains Portugal’s top singles player, ranked 47th globally, despite a one-spot drop. He is the only Portuguese player in the men’s top 100, ahead of Jaime Faria at 153rd and Henrique Rocha at 167th.
On the women’s circuit, the top 10 players saw no changes. Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka maintained her No. 1 position, followed by Poland’s Iga Swiatek at second and the United States’ Coco Gauff at third.