Next Monday Rafael Nadal will return to No. 1 for the first time in three years. This will be his fourth stint at the top of the world rankings. How long will Rafa’s reign last this time? Will the US Open spoil his party?
By Jonathan Spinoni
CINCINNATI – On Monday August 21, 2017 Rafael Nadal will return to the top of the ATP rankings. The Spaniard is also leading the Race to London and will most likely battle with Roger Federer for the year-end No. 1 spot, if they both manage to stay injury-free. 2017 will go down in the history books as the year of Restoration: The two legends won the first three Grand Slam titles and four of the first six Masters 1000 events of the season, refuting the critics who labelled them as “done and dusted” in the past few years. Roger and Rafa will now be the overwhelming favorites in every tournament until the ATP Finals in November.
It would be fascinating for tennis fans if the two champions alternated at the top of the rankings with an exciting battle until the end of the year. Next Monday, the 31-year-old Manacor native will take over the No. 1 spot for the 142nd week in his career, and his stretch will surely reach 144 as Nadal will be the No. 1 seed at the upcoming US Open and will stay at the top until the end of the tournament. Nadal is now 7th in the Open Era list of players with most weeks at No. 1:
1] Federer 302
2] Sampras 286
3] Lendl 270
4] Connors 268
5] Djokovic 223
6] McEnroe 170
7] Nadal 141 (144+)
The Spaniard is quite far from the first five players, but has a good chance to pass John McEnroe depending on how well he will perform from now until the end of the season. The following results allowed Rafa to return to No. 1:
4 titles (Roland Garros, Monte Carlo, Madrid and Barcelona 2017)
3 finals (Australian Open, Acapulco and Miami 2017)
3 quarterfinals (Beijing 2016, Rome and Brisbane 2017)
4 rounds of 16 (US Open 2016, Wimbledon, Indian Wells and Montreal 2017)
1 round of 32 (Shanghai 2016)
If we consider the points that Nadal has collected so far in 2017, his ranking was tremendously helped by outstanding clay court results:
Nadal collected a total of 7185 points in 2017
4680 of those points were from clay court events (65.1%)
2325 points from hard court events (32.4%)
180 points from grass court events (2.5%)
Nadal hasn’t won any hard-court event since Doha in 2014 or any big hard-court title such as a Grand Slam or Masters 1000 since the US Open in 2013. It will be vitally important for Rafa to collect as many points as possible in the next few months to extend his stint at No. 1 until 2018. This week’s event in Cincinnati is a fantastic opportunity for the Spaniard with only three top 10 players in the draw.
This is the second time that Nadal becomes world No. 1 during the Cincinnati tournament. He became No. 1 for the first time in his career in Cincinnati in August 2008, after completing the extraordinary Roland Garros-Wimbledon double the month before.
Nadal’s history at No. 1 had many ups and downs, incredible comebacks and captivating battles. He broke into the top ten for the first time on April 25, 2005 after winning Monte-Carlo and Barcelona. He started his 2005 season at No. 50 and climbed all the way to No. 30 in a couple of months. Then he went on a roll: He reached the Miami final losing only to Roger Federer in five sets, won Monte-Carlo prevailing over Coria in four sets and won Barcelona against fellow countryman Ferrero in three sets. These results catapulted Rafa to No. 7 in the world and the Spaniard never left the top ten since then. Despite a few long hiatuses due to injury throughout the years, Nadal has been consistently ranked inside the top ten for an astonishing 12 years and 4 months.
Nadal became world No. 2 for the first time in July 2005, after winning his first Roland Garros followed by titles in Bastad and Stuttgart – the German tournament was an ATP 500 clay court event at the time. At that point, Nadal stayed at No. 2 behind Roger Federer for an incredible three-year period, during which Rafa won three more Roland Garros titles along with his first Wimbledon. He also lost two Wimbledon finals to Roger.
Nadal I (08.18.2008 – 06.29.2009)
Nadal’s first stint at No. 1 occurred between August 18, 2008 and June 29, 2009, which also allowed Rafa to finish the 2008 season as the undisputed world No. 1. A fourth-round loss to Robin Soderling at the 2009 French Open followed by the decision to withdraw from Wimbledon cost Nadal the No. 1 ranking. In 2009 Federer completed his one and only Roland Garros – Wimbledon double and regained the No. 1 ranking after defeating Roddick in an epic Wimbledon final.
Nadal II (06.07.2010 – 06.27.2011)
Nadal’s second stint at No. 1 occurred between June 07, 2010 and June 27, 2011, with Rafa reclaiming the French Open crown, winning a second Wimbledon title and completing the Career Grand Slam after capturing his first US Open. Nadal finished the 2010 season at No. 1, but in 2011 Novak Djokovic put together one the most sensational seasons in tennis history, knocking Rafa off the top spot after defeating him in the Wimbledon final.
Nadal III (10.07.2013 – 06.30.2014)
Nadal’s third stint at No. 1 occurred between October 10, 2013 and June 30, 2014. Djokovic lost the No. 1 ranking to Federer for a few months in 2012, then reclaimed it until October 2013. Despite losing to Novak in the Beijing final, Nadal was able to return to the top of the rankings and finish the 2013 season as the world No. 1 for the third time in his career (2008, 2010 and 2013). After winning Wimbledon in 2014, Djokovic knocked Rafa off the top spot once again.
Nadal IV (08.21.2017 – ???)
For the second time in his career, Nadal returns to world No. 1 during the Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati. His fourth stint will surely last for three more weeks, but history shows how Nadal has always been dethroned after a Grand Slam event. The upcoming US Open will certainly play a decisive role concerning Nadal’s No. 1 ranking. How long will Nadal’s reign last this time? Will the Spaniard finish the year at No. 1 for the fourth time in his career? Will he be overthrown by Federer the legend, Zverer the youngster or Djokovic and Murray the wounded Kings?
(Article translation provided by T&L Global – Translation & Language Solutions – www.t-lglobal.com)
