Carlos Alcaraz has shown a lot of heart so far at the 2023 Cincinnati Open, winning all of his matches in three sets to reach the final. More importantly, the Spaniard achieved a rather interesting feat with his wins at the Masters 1000 tournament this week.
At least one of Alcaraz and his Nextgen rivals Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune has featured in the championship match of every 1000-level tournament in 2023. The achievement is a special one, considering how the past generations have failed at displacing the veterans from the pinnacle of men's tennis over the last few years.
Carlos Alcaraz, in particular, has had a great run at the ATP Masters series this year, winning his maiden Indian Wells Masters title in March and following it up with another title victory in Madrid a few months later. The 2023 Wimbledon champion will now be bidding to win his fourth big title of the season — the Cincinnati Open.
World No. 5 Holger Rune has also impressed fans with his performances at the elite ATP tournaments this year. Although the promising Dane is yet to replicate his 2022 Paris Masters triumph, he can take respite in the fact that he featured in the finals of the Monte Carlo Masters and the Italian Open this year.
Jannik Sinner, meanwhile, won his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title in Toronto last week. The Italian lost to Daniil Medvedev in the final of the 2023 Miami Open.
Carlos Alcaraz, Holger Rune, and Jannik Sinner may monopolize the top rankings together in near future
The tennis community has been immensely impressed by the trio and their achievements at such nascent stages of their careers. While Carlos Alcaraz ascended to World No. 1 spot with his maiden Major title at the US Open last year, Holger Rune and Jannik Sinner have also made significant ranking jumps this season.
Alcaraz has been the top-ranked player on the ATP tour for the majority of the season, having relinquished the No. 1 spot for a little less than two months at the beginning of the season. He has since gone from strength to strength as the apex men's player and also fought off Novak Djokovic for the top spot at last month's Wimbledon.
Rune, on the other hand, has had a meteoric rise on the ATP tour. At this time last year, the Dane wasn't even a top-30 player. However, thanks to some big-time results, he will be heading into the 2023 US Open as the fifth seed.
And while Sinner hasn't improved his ranking at the same rate as Alcaraz and Rune, the sixth-ranked Italian can take respite in the fact that he has been one of the most consistent players on the ATP tour lately.