It is the end of an era for Novak Djokovic after he fell out of the world’s top four for the first time since June 2007.
The Serbian has dropped down to fifth in this week’s rankings after his points from last year’s Rogers Cup came off. Recently the Serbian announced that he will miss the rest of the season on medical advice. Djokovic has been troubled by an elbow injury in recent months and withdrew from the Wimbledon championships due to the issue.
“I will take this time to heal and do all the different suggested methods of rehabilitation and healing processes so I can get back on the court as soon as possible,” He said last week. “It will take a couple of months at least without a racket and I hope after that I can start to train. I’m looking forward to building my body and my game and my team.”
Over the past decade, he has spent over ten years insider the world’s leading quartet. Between 2011-2016 he spent a total of 223 weeks as world No.1, the fifth longest spell in history. Only Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer have spent more time at the top than him.
Due to his absence from the tour, it is likely that Djokovic will eventually fall outside the top-10. If that was to happen, it would be the first time since March 2007.
The race to No.1
With Djokovic out of action, Andy Murray is facing stiff opposition in his bid to remain world No.1. Both Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have few points to defend during the second half of the season. In Federer’s case, he has nothing to defend following his injury-related break in 2016.
“I haven’t played well enough this year to deserve to stay there for much longer. If it doesn’t happen by the end of this tournament (Wimbledon), it will happen by the end of the US Open.” Murray said earlier this month about the prospect of losing his No.1 ranking.
Nadal is currently the closest to Murray and is just 285 points behind him in the rankings. He has managed to close the gap by winning four titles this season, including a historic tenth French Open title. Should he dethrone Murray in the coming weeks, the Spaniard will be No.1 for the first time since June 2014.
“It’s true that we (Roger and I) are better prepared to compete for nice things at the end of the year but it depends on what we’re able to do from now until the end of the year. We’ll have to wait and see.” Nadal told Con Amigos Asi last week.
Federer, who has already won two grand slam titles this season, is the favourite to rise to the top. As well as having no points to defend, the Swiss has only lost two matches this season. Against top-20 players, he has a perfect win-loss record of 17-0 so far in 2017.
“I think it’s going to be a three or four-way race, or two-way race between me and Rafa Nadal,” Federer believes.
“I hope it’s me and not Rafa because it means a lot to me to get back to No.1.”
According to the Rogers Cup website, all three players are set to return to action next week at the Rogers Cup in Montreal.
