Carlos Alcaraz has just been given a huge extra incentive to beat Jannik Sinner in the Cincinnati Open final

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Carlos Alcaraz is once again in the Cincinnati Open final, having enjoyed his usual routine of improving as the event has gone on.

However, he will have to be at his absolute best to beat Jannik Sinner and claim the title, two years on from his devastating loss at the same stage to Novak Djokovic.

There, he played supremely well but was narrowly defeated by the Serbian in a clash that lasted just shy of four hours.

It has since been labelled by many as one of the greatest best-of-three matches ever.

However, there’s every chance that the level displayed in Monday’s match-up could rival that, especially given Carlos Alcaraz has a few added incentives to beat Jannik Sinner.

Why Carlos Alcaraz will want to beat Jannik Sinner more than ever in Cincinnati

Chief among those reasons will likely be his desire for revenge, having been handily dethroned at Wimbledon just last month by the Italian.

Despite taking the first set, he was powerless to stop the comeback, losing in rather straightforward fashion for someone who had previously been so dominant on grass.

Not only that, but the winner of the Cincinnati Open has a great record of then going on to win the US Open, with recent examples of those who did this double including Coco Gauff and Djokovic in 2023, and Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka last year.

A win over the 24-year-old would give him the perfect confidence boost heading into the final Grand Slam of the year.

And yet, despite all of these examples, the paramount motivator that should give Alcaraz all the drive needed to claim victory tomorrow is actually rankings related.

Could Carlos Alcaraz really be the year-end world number one?

It might seem crazy to think, but there is a chance that Alcaraz could end the US Open as the new world number one, overtaking Sinner; albeit a slim one.

That being said, Lindsay Davenport thinks almost no one can challenge Sinner and Alcaraz at Grand Slams at the moment, given their form.

After all, it would require a dramatic and wholly unlikely failure from his generational rival, relying on Sinner to suffer a really early exit in New York later this month.

However, a win in Cincinnati would bring this into the realm of possibility, as it would put him within 2000 ranking points of Sinner.

Alcaraz’s second-round defeat last year means he has just 50 points to defend, compared to the 2000 Sinner gained from winning the event.

Should things go his way, he could definitely overtake the four-time Grand Slam champion in the coming months, provided he maintains his fine hard-court form throughout Shanghai, Beijing and Paris afterwards.