The North American hardcourt swing is heating up in Toronto, where Ben Shelton is set to face Karen Khachanov in the final of the Masters 1000 tournament. The match offers Shelton a chance to win his first ATP 1000 title and could significantly boost his position in the ATP rankings.
Shelton secured his spot in the final after an impressive straight-sets victory over Taylor Fritz, winning 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals. With that win, he now holds 3,970 ranking points and sits at No. 7 in the world.
A win in the final would earn Shelton an additional 450 points, allowing him to surpass Novak Djokovic (4,130) in the rankings and reach a new career high. Djokovic, who opted to skip both Toronto and Cincinnati, could see his US Open seeding affected as a result.
Shelton isn’t the only player with a chance to overtake Djokovic. Alex de Minaur, who didn’t compete in Cincinnati last year and thus has no points to defend, also has an opportunity to climb the rankings during this stretch.
De Minaur has a chance to surpass Djokovic in Cincinnati
De Minaur fell in the quarterfinals in Toronto against Shelton, and left the tournament with 3,480 points. However, a good run in Cincinnati, in which Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are competing after missing the Canadian Open, could put him above Djokovic.
Either way, the Serbian is still expected to remain within the top eight seeds heading into the US Open. The other players that are close in the rankings are Holger Rune, with 3,340, but he has to defend a semifinal run; and Lorenzo Musetti, who lost in the second round last year.
At Grand Slam events, players seeded fifth through eighth are projected to meet a top-four seed in the quarterfinals, a draw scenario that Djokovic could now face in New York Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, and Taylor Fritz currently occupy the top four spots in the ATP rankings and are not in danger of being displaced before the US Open.
Djokovic, who won his 24th Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows in 2023, will look to make history again by becoming the oldest Grand Slam singles champion. He could also become the only player in the history of tennis, including pre-Open era, with 25 GS singles titles.