Rafael Nadal slips out of ATP’s top 10 world rankings for first time in 18 years amid injury woes
Rafael Nadal steps out of the world’s top ten for the first time in EIGHTEEN YEARS as the Spaniard falls to 13th in the rankings having not played since injury ruined his Australian Open campaign.
- Rafael Nadal is not in the top ten of the ATP rankings for the first time since 2005
- Nadal, who has often struggled with injuries in recent years, has slipped to number 13.
- How long the 36-year-old will continue to play tennis remains to be seen.
Rafael Nadal may have woken up this morning feeling slightly different: for the first time in almost 18 years he is not a member of the world’s top ten.
The 36-year-old Spaniard has slipped to number thirteen in the ATP rankings, and not since April 24, 2005 has he not had such a respected status in tennis.
This marks the end of a surprisingly quiet period of consistency in a global individual sport. It’s all the more remarkable for the fact that he can hardly claim to have had the kind of injury-free record as baseball legend Cal Ripken Jr., who once played 2,632 games without interruption.
When Nadal first broke into the top ten, Sir Tony Blair still had two years to go as prime minister and Sir Alex Ferguson eight as Manchester United manager. The England cricket team was just embarking on the summer that would see them play perhaps the best Ashes series of all against Australia.
In the intervening period, the Spaniard has maintained his place at tennis’s main table, with his position backed by his extraordinary dominance of the French Open.
Rafael Nadal is out of the top ten of the ATP Tour Rankings for the first time since 2005
In the roll-on points system, twelve-month roll-off helps when you’ve won Roland Garros fourteen times.
Nadal’s downfall is partly due to losing the 600 he earned a year ago by reaching the Indian Wells final. In his absence, Carlos Alcaraz won on Sunday night by defeating Daniil Medvedev.
And if it weren’t for the points she took from Wimbledon, where she reached the semifinals last year, she’d still have a prized top-10 spot.
That, in turn, pushed Nadal’s heir apparent back to world number one, usurping Novak Djokovic, who is absent from the current swing of tournaments due to the continued US ban on those not vaccinated against Covid.
Nadal now only has 13 tournaments left to qualify, due to the increasing struggle to stay fit enough to compete. He hasn’t played since a hip problem contributed to his loss in the second round of the Australian Open.
However, he is back to practicing and hopes to play the Monte Carlo Open in mid-April, which is also where Djokovic is expected to appear next when they begin the run-up to the French Open.
Monte Carlo has also gone a long way in helping Nadal stay in the top ten as he has won it eleven times in total.
After an extraordinary run at the top, Nadal has now slipped to 13th in the rankings.
It is unclear how long the Spaniard, who has struggled with injuries, will continue to play.
It is not clear how long the Spanish will continue. Although he is obsessed with tennis, he also has other interests in his life, including golf, poker and a self-titled academy, and now he is a father. His view seems to be that he’s long retired, and in the GOAT debate he needs a win in France this year to have any chance of holding his own against Djokovic, with whom he has 22 Grand Slam titles apiece.
Nadal will miss the Miami Open, which begins this week, and where the remarkable Alcaraz, two months shy of his 20th birthday, will try to win the Sunshine Double after his triumph in the California desert.
After reaching the fourth round in Indian Wells, 21-year-old Jack Draper is one of the highest risers this week, moving back to 43rd. The slight tear in a stomach muscle that contributed to his retirement against Alcaraz did not It is as serious as initially feared. and he’s keeping his options open to play in Miami before Monday’s men’s draft.
