London, March 31 (IANS) After triumphing in Indian Wells and Miami to complete the ‘Sunshine Double’, Jannik Sinner found himself close to parity with his great rival Carlos Alcaraz in the Live Race, with just 50 points separating the two players.

Alcaraz began the year with title runs at the Australian Open and at the ATP 500 in Doha, building a 16-match winning streak that ended in the Indian Wells semi-finals. Sinner has since caught momentum and completed the ‘Sunshine Double’.

Alcaraz and Sinner are in control of the battle for ATP Year-End No. 1 with 2,950 and 2,900 ranking points, respectively. No other player is within 1,000 points of the pair, with third-placed Daniil Medvedev currently 1,200 points behind Sinner, ATP reports.

Meanwhile, Arthur Fils and Jiri Lehecka earned career milestones in Miami to continue their pursuit of a maiden qualification for the ATP Finals.

Fils, 21, reached his biggest ATP Tour semi-final in south Florida, helping him rise to eighth in the Live Race. The Frenchman was also a finalist in Doha and a quarter-finalist in Indian Wells.

Lehecka has surged 54 places to 10th following his first ATP Masters 1000 final appearance. The Czech arrived in Miami with a modest 6-5 season record, according to the ATP Win/Loss Index, yet found his best form at the hard-court event, where he went unbroken until the championship match against Sinner. He was a quarter-finalist at the ATP 500 events in Doha and Dubai.

German Alexander Zverev, a semi-finalist in both Indian Wells and Miami, leapfrogged 101-time tour-level titlist Novak Djokovic for fourth. Alex de Minaur and Ben Shelton, both former competitors in Turin, are also currently in the top eight.

The ATP Finals will be held from November 15-22 at Inalpi Arena in Turin. The home favourite Sinner has won the season finale for two consecutive years. Last season, he beat Alcaraz in the final to improve to 6-10 in his ATP head-to-head rivalry with the Spaniard.

–IANS

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