Rafael Nadal is finally starting to close the gap in the rankings with Novak Djokovic.
The Spanish sensation decided not to compete in Cincinnati to be as fit as he can for the last slam of the season, while Novak tried to defend his title. However, the world no.1 fell to an outstanding Daniil Medvedev in the semifinal to lose 640pts. Therefore after last week, Djokovic’s advantage over Nadal is reduced to 3,740 points.
Nadal vs. Djokovic for the year-end world no.1 rank
Even if Djokovic’s advantage seems huge, the Serbian is not 100% sure he can end the year at the top of the rankings. In fact, as he has to defend 4600 points since last year he won the Us Open (2000pts), Shanghai (1000pts) and he reached the final in Paris (600pts) and at the ATP Finals (1000pts).
On the other side, Nadal has to defend only 720 points because last year he stopped his season after he withdrew in the US Open semifinal against Del Potro.
Therefore, we might have an interesting battle for the top spot of the rankings if Nadal stays fully fit for the last part of the season.
| NADAL AND DJOKOVIC |
| Embed from Getty Images |
