Sinner triumphs in Paris to regain top ranking
Baku, November 3, AZERTAC
Jannik Sinner beat Felix Auger-Aliassime to win his first Paris Masters title and reclaim the world number one ranking from rival Carlos Alcaraz, according to BBC News.
Sinner's 6-4 7-6 (7-4) victory over the Canadian extended his winning streak on indoor hard courts to 26 matches - a run that stretches back to the 2023 Davis Cup Finals.
The win lifted the 24-year-old Italian 250 points above Alcaraz in the rankings before the season-ending ATP Finals begin on 9 November.
Sinner's victory ensures the race for the year-end world number one ranking will go to the final tournament of the season - a fitting end to a year where his rivalry with Alcaraz has reached stratospheric heights.
The pair have won the past eight Grand Slam tournaments between them and remain on a different level to the rest of the men's tour.
Such is their dominance that the gap between second-placed Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev (5,690) is greater than the third-ranked German's points total (5,560).
Sinner, who will have more points to defend than Alcaraz at the Finals after lifting the title last year, said: "It's not only in my hands, but I'm of course happy [to return to number one].
"The goal was to go day by day, trying to maximise my potential, which I have done.
"Now we recharge and hopefully be as ready as possible for Turin."
Sinner's 65-week reign as world number one was ended by Alcaraz when he lost to the Spaniard in September's US Open final.
But he regained top spot in style by conceding the fewest games on route to the Paris title since the event switched to hard courts in 2007.
The Australian Open and Wimbledon champion dropped only three points across his five service games and was entirely untroubled on his way to capturing the first set.
Sinner won 93% of points on his first serve in the opener and was dominant in the rallies, winning 17 of 25 points from the baseline.
Auger-Aliassime raised his level, saving multiple break points in the second set before edging 4-3 ahead, but Sinner continued to starve his opponent of opportunities.
Despite briefly appearing to struggle physically, Sinner levelled at 5-5 after being taken to deuce for the first time while serving to stay in the set, and both players held out for a tie-break.
Producing just three unforced errors throughout a hard-fought second set, a single mini-break proved enough for Sinner, who took his first championship point to lift the tournament's unique tree-shaped trophy for the first time.
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