Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz pulled apart as Cincinnati draw suits tennis icons

A final between the world's top two players is on the cards in Cincinnati with Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz on opposite sides of the draw. Both players took a break from competitive action following their clash at Wimbledon, which world No.1 Sinner won to claim his first crown at SW19.

The pair opted to skip the National Bank Open in Canada. However, they will not return to action in America as they build towards this month's US Open. Due to their seedings, both players have been handed a bye first up and will instead play in the round of 64 on the weekend.

Sinner, 23, isn't likely to be troubled first up. He's in line to face Czech player Vít Kopriva, providing the world No.80 can beat a qualifier in his first-round match.

It is not until the last-16 that things potentially get tricky for the Italian, where he is in line to play 13th seed Tommy Paul. Fourth seed Taylor Fritz is also on his side of the draw, although the pair cannot meet until the semi-finals.

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Alcaraz will return against the winner of Italian Mattia Bellucci or Ukraine's Damir Dzumhur. The latter was ranked 18th some seven years ago, but both men now lie outside the world's top 50.

If he wants to gain a measure of revenge on Sinner, the 22-year-old will need to overcome Alexander Zverev if the two rivals make the semi-final stage. The Spaniard won the title in Cincinnati 2023, before Sinner prevailed 12 months ago.

The tournament has been hit by the loss of big-name players, though. For the second successive season, Novak Djokovic has withdrawn to manage his workload before Flushing Meadows.

British star Jack Draper has also been ruled out with injury after failing to recover in time from an arm injury. Alexander Bublik is another player twho will be absent after back-to-back tournament wins at the Gstaad Open and Kitzbuhel Open.

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