Paris: Rafael Nadal was confirmed as the year-end World No.1 for the fifth time after the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) released its season-closing rankings Monday.
Nadal did not make it beyond the group stage of last week’s ATP Finals in London but Novak Djokovic’s failure to reach the semifinals meant that the Spaniard closed the year with 9,985 points, 840 clear of the Serb.
By finishing at No.1 for the fifth time Nadal drew level with rivals Djokovic and Roger Federer, who have also finished the year in top spot the same number of times. However, the record of finishing the most number of times as No.1 belongs to Pete Sampras who did it for six times.
Nadal and Djokovic have been this year’s two dominant players after winning two Majors each. Djokovic won the Australian Open and Wimbledon with Nadal cleaning up at Roland Garros and the US Open.
Federer ends the season at No.3 for the second year running. The Swiss, who turned 38 in August, has cut down his Tour commitments to focus on events around Grand Slams.
Federer reached the semifinals of the French Open where he lost to Nadal and the last eight at Flushing Meadows where he was beaten by World No. 20 Gregor Dimitrov in five sets.
In between he lost an epic Wimbledon final against Djokovic, the first to be decided by a tie-break in the fifth set, suggesting that he still has hopes of a 21st major title in 2020.
Dominic Thiem, who took a set off Nadal in the final of the French Open, moved up to No.4 after reaching the final of the ATP Finals where he lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas. The 21-year-old Greek closed the year at No.6, just behind Daniil Medvedev, after his triumph in London.
The rankings: Rafael Nadal (Spain) 9,985 points; Novak Djokovic (Serbia) 9,145, Roger Federer (Switzerland) 6,590, Dominic Thiem (Austria) 5,825; Daniil Medvedev (Russia) 5,705; Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece) 5,300; Alexander Zverev (Germany) 3,345; Matteo Berrettini (Italy) 2,870; Roberto Bautista Agut (Spain) 2,540; Gail Monfils (France) 2,530.
AFP