Back at the top - Rafael Nadal again world ranking first
Rafael Nadal is back at the top of the ATP world rankings. The Spaniard replaced Novak Djokovic as world number one.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Nov 03, 2019, 07:59 pm
Rafael Nadal can once again look back on an exceptional year: The 33-year-old won his twelfth title at the French Open and was also the shining winner at the US Open in New York. In addition, the Spaniard won the ATP Masters 1000 tournaments in Rome and Montreal and thus conquered the lead in the world rankings.
It looked at the beginning of the season for Nadal anything but good: After reaching the final of the Australian Open, the 19-time Grand Slam winner had to retire before the Indian Wells semi-final against Roger Federer, the Mallorcan made again once to create knee problems.
Nadal fell into a deep hole and thought even after the tournament in Monte Carlo even to an early season end. But even in the course of the clay court season, the "bull from Manacor" found its way back to its old strength and had suffered only one defeat since the event in Rome: in the Wimbledon semi-final against Roger Federer.
Question mark behind London participation
Unsurprisingly, Nadal was able to recapture the world ranking list of Novak Djokovic. Altogether, the Spaniard has been at the top of the rankings for 196 weeks, the last time on November 4, 2018. Nadal himself was pleased with this success: "It's fantastic, it was never a priority for me to become first in the world, but me I prefer to be number one. "
Whether Nadal will hold this position at the end of the year will be decided at the ATP Finals in London. Nadal currently leads 640 points ahead of Djokovic and would need at least the final in the English capital to overwinter as a world number one.
However, there is still a question mark behind Nadal's appearance at the year-end finals. The 33-year-old suffered an abdominal muscle injury in Paris-Bercy and therefore could not compete in his semi-final match against Denis Shapovalov - a decision to participate in London has not yet fallen. This would be desirable for the neutral tennis fan in any case.