ATP Race Update: Ben Shelton rises after Stuttgart title as Medvedev and De Minaur miss key chance
The first week of competition in the grass swing has finished, and the top positions in the ATP Race to Turin remain unchanged, with Jannik Sinner firmly at the top, followed by Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev — recent Roland Garros champion. However, none of them competed in the opening week of the grass swing.
Zverev took second place in the Race after winning his first Grand Slam title and reduced the gap to Sinner, although he will still have to wait until Wimbledon to see whether he has chances of overtaking him. Meanwhile, the injured Alcaraz remains in third place without complications. The three names are virtually qualified for the ATP Finals in Turin.
However, things tighten from there onwards. Flavio Cobolli — Roland Garros finalist — rested for a week before returning to the courts, while Daniil Medvedev — who completes the top 5 — was surprised in the semifinals of s’Hertogenbosch by the surprise of the week, the Polish player Kamil Majchrzak — who recorded the biggest upward movement in the ATP Race.
Meanwhile, Ben Shelton managed to climb a couple of positions after winning the title at Stuttgart Open, defeating Taylor Fritz. The 29-year-old American, despite the final defeat, also managed to rise several positions and moves up to No. 28 in the Race.
It should be remembered that Fritz was out of competition for a couple of months due to injuries, but in his first tournament he quickly reached the final and can take positive conclusions heading into the rest of the grass swing, where he will try to recover ground after giving several months of advantage to his rivals.
Top 3 remains unchanged: Sinner, Zverev and Alcaraz hold firm at the top
The leading positions of the ATP Race remain without movement — and there will be no major changes until Wimbledon at least. Sinner remains comfortably in first place, although now with less than 1,000 points of advantage over Zverev. Further back in third place is the injured Alcaraz, who will not return to the courts until after Wimbledon, a key event, as several players with a deep run could overtake the Spaniard, who will start the hard-court swing with slightly more difficulty.