Carlos Alcaraz’s return to competition at the US Open offered plenty of encouragement, even if his campaign ended with a five-set defeat to Ben Shelton in the quarter-finals.

The Spaniard arrived in New York under a cloud of uncertainty after spending four and a half months away from tennis following a wrist injury sustained at the Barcelona Open. Questions about whether he could quickly find his highest level were understandable, but they faded fast as he moved through the early rounds with authority.

Alcaraz defeated Roman Safiullin, Jaime Faria, Wu Yibing, and Tommy Paul to reach the last eight, losing only one set along the way. That kind of progress confirmed that his return was far stronger than many had expected.

The harder work now comes after the US Open. His calendar includes an exhibition appearance at the Laver Cup, the Six Kings Slam, and the ATP Tour’s Asian swing. It is a demanding run at a stage of the season when Alcaraz has not always produced his best tennis, and that trend will matter if he wants to keep closing the gap on Alexander Zverev and Jannik Sinner.

At present, Alcaraz is closer to Ben Shelton in fourth than he is to Zverev in second, and history suggests that may still be the case by the end of the 2026 season.

The closing months also carry another obstacle. Alcaraz has not yet won either of the final two Masters events of the year, the Shanghai Masters or the Paris Masters. His record in Shanghai is limited to three appearances and a best showing of the quarter-finals in 2024. Paris has been even less kind, with two second-round exits, including last year’s loss to Cameron Norrie, plus two third-round departures. Across five appearances there, he owns a 50% winning rate, which makes it his weakest Masters event by some distance.

Between the end of the US Open and the close of the season, Alcaraz has won only two tournaments, the China Open in 2024 and the Japan Open in 2025, both ATP 500 events.

Alexander Zverev has added another major milestone to his strong 2026 campaign, winning his first US Open crown after a four-set victory over Ben Shelton. The German’s plan was executed with authority, and the home crowd at Flushing Meadows was left to drift out in disappointment as the final unfolded.

The result gave Zverev his second Grand Slam title of the year, a figure that stands above the rest on the men’s side in 2026. That followed his first major triumph at Roland Garros in June, a breakthrough that already marked this season as the most productive of his career at the biggest events.

With the US Open now complete, attention naturally turns to the world No 1 ranking. Zverev sits just 1810 points behind Jannik Sinner, making the gap narrow enough for the race to remain alive heading into the closing stretch of the season.

Boris Becker, Zverev’s compatriot, suggested the timing may be close to decisive. Writing on social media after the US Open title was secured, Becker said: “Think Sascha is gonna take it by the time Turin comes along.”

That reference points to the ATP Finals in Turin, the season-ending event for the eight highest-ranked players in men’s tennis. Zverev, Sinner, and Carlos Alcaraz have already secured their places for the tournament, which begins on 15th November.

The German has a particularly important window ahead, especially with Sinner managing injury concerns. The Italian’s knee ruled him out of the US Open and he is expected back at the China Open, which starts on September 30th.

There is also a significant points dynamic at play. Sinner is defending 3550 points before the season ends, based on titles at the China Open, the Vienna Open, the Paris Masters, and the ATP Finals in 2025. Zverev, by contrast, has only 1,040 points to protect and did not win a title during this stretch last year.

That leaves Zverev with a clear opening before the ATP season closes. He returns to action at the Laver Cup from September 25th to 27th, where he will represent Team Europe alongside Alcaraz, Jakub Mensik, Flavio Cobolli, Rafael Jodar, and Casper Ruud against Team World.

Jannik Sinner may have been ahead of the discussion when Alexander Zverev began closing in on the No 1 ranking.

Before Zverev captured the French Open in June, finally completing his long wait for a first Grand Slam title, he sat behind Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz in the ATP Tour standings. His path through 2026 had already shown the gap he still had to bridge. He lost to eventual champion Alcaraz in the Australian Open semi-finals, took advantage of Sinner’s early defeat at Roland Garros and Alcaraz’s wrist injury absence, and then fell to Sinner in the Wimbledon final.

That defeat was his fifth against Sinner in 2026, leaving him close to 5,000 ranking points behind the five-time major winner. The 6ft 6in German did make it competitive in a four-set loss, but the balance still appeared to favour Sinner and Alcaraz.

Now, after Zverev’s four-set victory over Ben Shelton to win his first US Open on Sunday, Sinner’s Centre Court message looks increasingly pointed.

“I would like to start with you and your whole team and family. You reached one of your main goals in winning a Grand Slam and made it happen in Paris,” he said.

“Today was so, so close and if you play like this I am very, very sure you are going to have this one at home as well. Amazing. Keep going. I know the goal is for you to become number one in the world and you are very close, so I have to be very careful now!”

The No 1 picture is becoming more interesting as the season moves on. Sinner is 1,810 points clear of Zverev in the ATP Tour rankings, yet in the ATP Race it is the two-time major winner who leads by 700 points. Sinner remains out with a knee injury, while Alcaraz has returned after four months away with a knee injury and is fourth in the Race behind Shelton.

Asked whether he is the best player in the world right now, Zverev answered with context rather than certainty.

“You have to take everything into consideration,” he said. “With Jannik Sinner being injured and Carlos Alcaraz coming back from injury after four months, right now, probably yes. Both of them healthy and both of them at the top of their game, maybe not.

“But if we say right, right now with Jannik being injured and Carlos coming back from injury, maybe. I mean, four, five months ago when both of them were healthy, I wasn’t. I was losing to Jannik all the time. So if everyone is healthy, I think Jannik is still ahead. It’s as simple as that.”

A compelling finish to the year is now in view.