NADAL WRESTLES BACK TO TOP SPOT POST ROME WIN
Spanish tennis maestro Rafael Nadal returned to his lost number one spot in the latest Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) rankings released on Monday.
Having started the season at the numero-uno rank, Nadal lost his top spot to his long-term rival Roger Federer twice— first on April 2 and then on May 14 after the Spanish tennis star knocked out of the Madrid Masters in the quarter-finals.
However, Nadal is now back at number one in the ATP rankings after lifting his record eighth Rome Masters title in Italy.
The 31-year-old, who recently also clinched his 11th Barcelona and 11th Monte Carlo Masters titles, struggled past Germany’s Alexander Zverev for the fifth time in their ATP Head-to-Head series (5-0) to lift the trophy.
After comfortably winning the opening set, Nadal went down in the second before he rebounded strongly following the two rain stoppages and won last five games against Zverev to secure his 32nd Masters title.
Nadal will now begin his 174th week at the top spot ahead of the French Open, where he will be bidding for an 11th French Open title, the official website reported.
While Nadal maintains a lead of 100 points over his longtime rival Federer, Zverev’s run to the finals in Italy saw him retain his third spot.
Croatian tennis star Marin Cilic, who snapped his losing streak in the Rome quarterfinals against Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta before falling to eventual finalist Zverev in the last-four, climbed up one place to the fourth place.