Carlos Alcaraz had a mission in heading to Asia for the Chinese hard court swing and that was to potentially return to World No.1 and end as Year End No.1, but that mission is over for the time being.
Alcaraz lost out to Grigor Dimitrov on Wednesday afternoon in the biggest win of the year and another exhibit of the terrific form of the Bulgarian, but also handed
Novak Djokovic a boost without the imperious Serb even playing.
Djokovic will only play the Paris Masters, ATP Finals and Davis Cup Finals as per his schedule to end the year, with one of those in particular holding the key.
Famously, Djokovic lost at Paris Bercy last year to Holger Rune, but he will head there with nothing to lose in terms of the top ranking. It is now assured that he won't be surpassed in the ATP Race before the Paris Masters and will end the year as World No.1 for an eighth year.
But of course, defending the Australian Open can also hand the keys to Alcaraz early next year. Despite the mooted rumors that Alcaraz will not play any warm-up tournaments that would give him a helping hand, with that the next chapter of the burgeoning rivalry will be born.
With Djokovic's Grand Slam schedule being as it is with limited warm-up tournaments and playing a smaller schedule, Alcaraz will get chances to overtake him. But it seemed in the end, the US Open did hold the key to this being ticked off in favour of Djokovic this time around.
