Djokovic 370 weeks at no. 1; Swiatek cements top spot
PARIS: Novak Djokovic extended his record at the top of the ATP rankings to 370 weeks on Monday while Rafael Nadal drops down a place to number five. The Spaniard was knocked out of the Italian Open in the last 16 and is leapfrogged by the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas who made it all the way to the final where he was turned over in straight sets by an inspired Djokovic.
The Serb, who claimed his sixth Italian Open title, has now spent 60 weeks more at number one than the next man on the list Roger Federer (310). Nadal is sixth on the all-time list with 209. With the French Open starting on Sunday, Djokovic is guaranteed top seeding at Roland Garros and will retain the top spot for at least another two weeks.
Norwegian Casper Ruud climbs two places from tenth to eighth after reaching the semi-finals in Rome while Italian Matteo Berrettini, who had an operation on his right hand at the end of March and will miss the French Open, goes the other way.
Meanwhile, Iga Swiatek, who won her fifth tournament in a row in Rome on Sunday, will go into the French Open as top seed after consolidating her place as world number one on Monday. The 20-year-old Pole, who won the title at Roland Garros in 2020, is over 2,000 points ahead of defending French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova in the new WTA rankings.
Tunisia’s Madrid Open champion Ons Jabeur, who lost to Swiatek in the Italian Open final, climbed to a career-high sixth. Coco Gauff dropped three places to 18th while former number one Simona Halep returned to the top 20 at 19. —AFP