'He'll have to watch his back' - Italian tennis legend issues stark warning to Jannik Sinner ahead of Cincinnati Open

After a superb performance that saw him capture the 2025 Wimbledon title, World No.1 Jannik Sinner has been urged to proceed with caution by retired Italian tennis legend, Paolo Bertolucci.

Sinner has been dominant during the 2025 season, kicking his year off by successfully defending his title at the Australian Open. After serving a three month suspension for violating the ATP doping policy, Sinner returned to the Tour and finished runner-up at the French Open, losing to rival Carlos Alcaraz.

The San Candido native would avenge his Roland Garros loss a few weeks later, when he defeated Alcaraz in the final at SW19. This victory would not only give Alcaraz his second Grand Slam title of the year, but also his maiden Wimbledon trophy.

Sinner withdrew from the Canadian Open, opting to rest and recover after a grueling two weeks in London. However, the 23-year old will make his return at the upcoming Cincinnati Open, where he is the defending champion.

Alcaraz could catch up to Sinner in ranking points, warns Bertolucci.

As the tennis community awaits Sinner's return, Bertolucci gave his opinion on his compatriot's outlook for the North American hard court season. The 1976 Davis Cup winner stated Sinner has a lot of points to defend, and rival Alcaraz could quickly catch up to the Italian as the Spaniard does not have the same issue.

"Now in Cincinnati, Jannik [Sinner] will need to immediately deliver a high-level performance to consolidate the points he’s gained or make up for those he’ll lose,” said Bertolucci. “He’ll have to watch his back from the Spaniard [Carlos Alcaraz], now his only real rival for the world number one spot.
"The Spaniard has followed the same path as Sinner and will also restart on the scorching American hard courts of Cincinnati, but unlike the Italian, despite being behind in the rankings, he will have very few points to defend in this final stretch of the 2025 season.
"Only two men in command, two players with very different technical and behavioral characteristics, but both aware of the respective strengths of their main opponent."

Sinner currently leads Alcaraz by 3,430 points in the world rankings. However, the World No.1 must defend over 5,000 points between now and the end of the season, whereas Alcaraz needs to defend just over 1,000 points.