Nadal is Number 1 in 2017

He has now been number 1 at some point during 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014 and now 2017. He first got to number 1 at 22 and he is now 31. Remarkable achievement

142nd week.

List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players

It's been an impressive comeback / resurgence, no doubt

Only six players have spent more time than Nadal at Number One since the introduction of a formal ATP Ranking system back in the 1970's.

Will be intetesting to see just where he finishes in the 'league table' when the final chapter is written.

for me this is the time that he surprised me the most

Nadal can now put in some serious numbers at number one - numbers that most thought he would have achieved some years ago.
  When Rafa first took over at number one, after seemingly ages at number two, it was August 2008 and I, for one, reckoned he'd be at the top for a very long time. Indeed, Rog's then record of 237 weeks looked in danger. But injuries took their toll and given Rafa's stellar career, a total of 140-odd weeks at the top - still a good number of course - is somewhat modest.
   Well, Rafa has the opportunity to add considerably to that number now. He really ought to be have been a 200-week man by now. By the end of 2018 he could well be.

I dont know

I think he has a good scenario to keep the throne untill Australian open, but from then on, he defends so many points...

in general that has always been the pattern with him, clay season hands him number 1, but if the next year he is not in top form, he loses it in wimbledon

but I think he can still add 20-30 more weeks to his CV

N'Roy. Well, a good Wimbledon should keep the run going. But he's hardly set the world alight at SW19 of late. However, he managed a first non-French slam in four years at New York, so anything's possible.
   The strange thing about the number one position since Fed took over in early 2004 is that everyone who has got to the top has had a good, long spell at numero uno.
   Look back at some of the years of the Open Era and the lead seemed to change hands almost on a weekly basis.
   We could have had a quick-swap situation if Fed had done better at the USO and Rafa worse. As it is, Rafa is set for a longish spell at the top.

If he survives at number 1 until the end of the year, then he should be safe until April. Fed has no real room for improvement.

thats true

then his target must be keeping the number 1 till the end of 2017

I think 1500 points would be enough

semis at one master: 360
quarters at another master: 180
final in one atp500: 300
quarters in the other atp500: 90
final in wtf with 2 wins in rr: 800

results such as these would oblige roger to win 3600 points to dethrone the spaniard
(wtf 1500, master win 1000, basel 500, master final 600)

Well he hasn't quite got the year end number 1 yet. But yes, if he does, he should keep it until around end of April/May at least and if he has a good clay court season he could keep it until after the US Open.

After then, I'd be tempted to say it's unlikely he'll keep it. It's hard to hold on for such a long time in the latter part of your career, and who knows what Djokovic, Murray, or even others will be doing by then.

Can anyone overtake Fed's 302 weeks in total at the top?. Must say I thought the record (at 237 weeks back then) would go when Rafa took over number one in summer 2008.
   It then looked as if Djoko, on around 220 weeks in 2016, would go on to surpass it. He could still do it, but can't really get back to the top much before the end of 2018 and would then need around 80 weeks more.

I also think the 302 record is safe.

Djokovic would have to rule the world of tennis from january 2018 to jun 2020, I dont know, seems like almost impossible, but who knows... Federer has won 2 slams at the age of 36

sirfredperry wrote:Can anyone overtake Fed's 302 weeks in total at the top?. Must say I thought the record (at 237 weeks back then) would go when Rafa took over number one in summer 2008.
   It then looked as if Djoko, on around 220 weeks in 2016, would go on to surpass it. He could still do it, but can't really get back to the top much before the end of 2018 and would then need around 80 weeks more.

Not Djoko or Nadal - not a chance I'd say.

Agree with much of the above - Rafa now on 143 weeks, and only Federer with an outside chance of knocking him off the top by the end of the season (just shy of 2000 points behind). Even if Fed has a super end of season, it's likely Rafa would re-claim #1 next Spring.

Year end would take Rafa up to about 160 weeks, and he should be safe through the AO and really well into the clay season. For me, if he avoids a long injury absence there's an excellent chance of Rafa still being on top up to the next USO (aided by Djokovic and Murray being absent the rest of this year and so having a low base of points). He should get close to the 200 week mark.

As for getting close to Fed's overall record - would need him to be at the top for 3 years from now. That's just not happening. Djokovic needing 80 weeks, so 1.75 years more, is also very improbable given that it will take him the best part of a year to get back to #1 even if he comes back in his best form at the start of 2018.

maths say he is number one until october 30th at least

he could lose the throne after paris if federer wins 1860 points more than him by then

federer is playing for a total of 2500 points prior to WTF so nadal would enter the masters cup as number one if he gained 640 points, no matter what roger did

I think its a pretty safe bet to say Nadal will play in London as number 1, but if Roger is close by then, he would still have a good chance to reclaim number 1 by winning the WTF.

How strange that Hawkeye is back

Pleased for you and your favourite player

Expect the status quo to continue with the majors shared between the Big 5, with Novak missing out.

You heard it here first

and he really is the best in this moment
nice shanghai event with federer

Barring some extraordinary results, Rafa has the year-end number one sewn up. Given Fed's incredible start to 2017, Rafa should hang on to number one for some time into next year, too.
   I think if Rog does even at all well in the opening big tourneys next year he'll skip the clay court season again. It worked OK for him this year. One of the imponderables with Rafa is how well he'll do following on a year when he's played a lot and done well. 2010 and 2014 - dominant Nadal years - were followed by not-as-successful years in 2011 and 2015.

Now Nadal has picked up 500 points from winning China Open since Naxroy's calculation of 18 September, he is 2,360 points ahead of Federer.  The y/e #1 is looking more like a foregone conclusion than ever.  Also, as Naxroy said, yesterday, Nadal is also the best in the world on current form too.  It will be v. interesting to see how Federer does over the end of the season.  He says his back problems are over.  Even though he cannot overhaul Nadal, I'd love him to have the best end of season.

Nadal has streaked ahead in what looked like a close race before the US Open. Federer must outperform Rafa at Shanghai to stay in the race and probably needs to win the event. I have not quite given up yet.

I said nadal was the best in this moment, but thats also taking into consideration federer´s back issues

I admitt that in the first half of the year federer seemed a little ahead, even without playing the clay season

Well, the race for year-end numero uno is still, just about, on - although Rafa should get it. Already thoughts turn to 2018. Will Fed play any court-court tournaments? Given his form and fitness levels for 2017, the answer to that is probably not. 
   But will Rafa do as well at the end of the season as he had done this year?  Much could depend not so much on how Fedal do, as how the returning absentees do.

Seems like Nadal may miss the rest of the season with his knee again. Poor guy, but that said you have to wonder why he played the China Open last week. Perhaps he thought he’d truly put his knee behind him. The problem with injuries like that is not just that they are physically disabling; but that the player spends time in the shadow of the injury wondering if they can trust the knee or whatever else has caused the problem, which can make a huge difference in matches vs. the top guys when the margins are tight.

Federer needed to win Shanghai to stay in the race, but really he perhaps needed Rafa to lose earlier to have much of a good chance. It is still very close to a 2000 point gap which looks too much still unless Rafa really does miss the rest of the season. I wonder if Rafa is going to miss the rest of the season whether it might make sense to keep quiet about it and withdraw from events one at a time at the last minute. The point being if he says now he misses the rest of the season Federer might plan to play more tournaments and have a real crack at year end no 1, whereas otherwise he might decide to largely give up on the year end no 1 race and just focus on WTF. Or maybe that's a bit cynical.

I'm not sure where you're getting that from though, that he might miss the rest of the season.

After today's result, it's clear that Roger has a better record as a % of matches and tournaments played, and Rafa's lead is due to playing more tournaments.

Federer has won 2 out of 3 slams played, compared to 2 out of 4 for Rafa.

Federer has won 3 out of 4 masters played, compared to 2 out of 8 for Rafa. That's a huge difference.

Federer's overall head to head is 44-4 (92%), with Rafa at 65-10 (85%). According to wikipedia just now, which I think is updated and looks right.

Federer is also 4-0 vs Rafa in head to head for the year. Today's result confirms Federer will win the head to head for the year (well, 99% sure).

Of course, Federer perhaps achieved these superior records, at least in part, due to the benefits gained from taking a rest while Rafa was pushing his body through tougher matches, and because he avoided the clay season where he was more likely to lose.

Had he played the clay season, might he have gained the 2000 points that currently separate him and Rafa? Hard to say, and if he had, would that have meant he ran out of steam at Wimbledon? Again, hard to say.

If Roger wins the world tour finals and loses the no 1 by a few hundred points it's going to feel sort of unsatisfactory really.

Current gap is 1960 and Nadal has expressed doubts about playing in Basel and Paris; Federer has suggested that for him it's one or the other both or neither but that London is his priority.

I have completely deleted my previous post here because my misreading of what Federer had said meant it was speculation on a wrong basis.

Who knows if they are playing games with one another about their fitness/intentions. One thing for sure - I bet Federer wants #1 like crazy. He'd be oldest #1 and the way that the points stack and the proposed return of Djoko/Murray/Wawrinka in 2018 mean that he can't count on getting so close again.

As things stand, the range of the deficit Fed could go into WTF with is huge - 460 at best, and 2000+ at worst - although anything beyond 1501 is irrelevant since that's all Nadal needs.

I'd expect Federer to give it the best go he can; if he plays only one tournament before WTF I'd be amazed if it's Basel since he'd be all but giving it away to Nadal unless he is sure Nadal won't turn up at London able to win at least one match.

Federer cuts the lead to 1460, still clinging on to this race. Sort of feels like he's there nipping at Rafa's heels as Rafa waits to cross the line.

With 1500 available at the WTF, Rafa will be no 1 if Federer withdraws from Paris after winning Basle or if Rafa. Alternatively, any Federer defeat at Paris while Rafa is still in pretty much gets it done.

It looks like to have more than a tiny chance Federer needs to realistically win Paris and have Rafa lose fairly early at least in the QF say. That would keep things interesting.

Seems doubtful Fed will play Paris. So Rafa has pretty much got it sewn up. What seems sure is that Rog and Rafa will be the top two well into next year.

Fed just announced he wont plays paris

Roger needs an absolute miracle now he's withdrawn from Paris. He needs Rafa to lose his first round match at Paris tomorrow, all three of his group stage matches at the world tour finals, and Roger to win all five of his matches. That would be hundreds to one odds.

I'm pretty sure Fed himself said a fair while ago (soon after he had won Shanghai, I think, when asked about his chances of making Number One) It's just not going to happen, and it's not a priority for me anyway - or words very close to that.

The fact that he has withdrawn from Paris, in order to take time out ahead of London, is clear evidence that he's much more interested in avoiding injury and keeping in good shape for the start of the 2018 season.

Well at least Fed should be number two for a good while. Possibly time to consider just how long Rafa can stay number one. Reckon he'll win the French again next year and surely ( I say this every year) he'll go a bit farther at Wimbledon in 2018.
   Fed is unlikely to have such a great start to the season. I reckon if he does even reasonably well up to end of March that he will skip the clay-court season again. 
   The big unknown for next season is the state of the 2017 absentees, particularly Djoko and Murray. I have a feeling that Djoko could come roaring back and have the sort of come-back season that Rafa had in 2013 and that both Rafa and Rog have had this year. With Murray, it's difficult to say as we still don't know how his hip will play.
   With Stan and Nishi returning, competition is bound to be fierce. The draw for the AO could be very interesting, with Murray as low as 16th or 17th and Djoko also not all that highly ranked. There could be some blockbuster matches early on.

Well ... in respect of saying "this every year" .... here's one from me  ..... (even though he will likely prove me wrong !)

I think that Federer is not that far off from calling time. I believe he will remain fully focused for 2018 (albeit with a carefully tweaked, reduced schedule once again) ; but I have my doubts as to how much longer he will continue beyond that. Those well-used limbs have to tire at some point, surely......

Meanwhile, in other news .... yes, will be very interesting to see just how well Djokovic. Murray and Stan can all perform on their respective returns to the fray.

If he has an eye on his records and his legacy, and I bet he does, I don't think Federer is thinking of Rankings beyond wanting, as best he can, to have as decent seeding as possible for the events he cares most about (Wimbledon, other Slams, WTF then stuff like Indian Wells, Cincinnati, Halle, Basel, Dubai, Shanghai &c).  He must know his 302 weeks at #1 is safe - but after 2017 he can't be 100% confident that his tournament and slam tallies are out of Nadal's reach.

I bet he thinks he has another slam or two in him, and after 2017 he knows he needs all he can to stay ahead of Nadal - after Wimbledon I think Australia is his best bet assuming they keep the slightly faster playing surface of 2017.

Think I read somewhere that Fed was committed to Basel until 2019. He's probably going to end his career there, but as long as he keeps qualifying for the year-end championship each November he'll carry on.
   Back at the beginning of 2017 he probably thought that although he would give the year his best shot he would probably start dropping down the rankings, would not qualify as one of the top eight and would bow out at the 2017 Basel.
    Ah the best laid plans....

sirfredperry wrote:Think I read somewhere that Fed was committed to Basel until 2019. He's probably going to end his career there, but as long as he keeps qualifying for the year-end championship each November he'll carry on.
   Back at the beginning of 2017 he probably thought that although he would give the year his best shot he would probably start dropping down the rankings, would not qualify as one of the top eight and would bow out at the 2017 Basel.
    Ah the best laid plans....

I think his aim was quite a bit higher than that, and will be for 2018.  He almost definitely had a Wimbledon win in his sights for 2017, and he will for 2018 (why not when his last few years have been F-F-SF-W), and from comments he made after his incredible start to 2017 his aim was to be in the top 8 for a decent seeding at Wimbledon. Once he is out of the top 8 then winning slams or the bigger tournaments becomes really tough - look at his Australian Open win, when he had to beat four players in the top 10 from #17.  He really doesn't want too much of that.  If he has any career numbers in mind now, I reckon that will be slam #20 and overall tournament #100 - both of which must look achievable given what he did 2017 (and give him a respectable cushion vs. Nadal too...).

Interesting that Nadal @1 also has a Federer side-bar.

@SFP.. He has a 'life-time' contract at Halle, which implies that Federer plays till he leaves the ATP.

How the FedAl careers are so closely intertwined, wow? Laver-Rosewall all over again, methinks.

Rafa has sometimes been described as being more happy hunting than being the hunted one.
  Certainly when he was number two for so long to Rog's number one, Rafa invariably beat the Swiss. Conversely, when Rafa was number one in the first part of 2011 he was consistently beaten by Djoko.
   This year, if I'm right, Fed has been the lower ranked player of the pair when they have met, yet has won all the matches.
   No doubt the statisticians among you can work out Rafa's win-loss ratio when he was number one and compare it with the figures when he's been ranked two or lower.

Rafa has done it:

The first man in his 30s to end the year as world No 1 according to the Express.

Open era year end no 1s

Sampras 6
Connors 5
Federer 5
Mcenroe 4
Lendl 4
Djokovic 4
Nadal 4

Together with Pete Sampras and Federer, Rafa already held one of the most notable statistics in the game: the biggest gap between his first year-end No. 1 finish (2008) and his most recent (2013) - six years. Now he has made that 10 years. Not everyone expected that Rafa would be known for longevity.

Sources: Express, ATP, Wikipedia

amazing from rafa

lets hope rafa and roger meet again at london

Excellent season by Rafa. He would dearly love to top it with a title at the year-end championship - practically the only thing he's not won in the game.
   Given Fed has a stack of points to defend at the start of next year, Rafa ought to be top for a good while and take his weeks-at-number-one overall total to something more like what it ought to be for a player of his talent.

Well done Rafa !

Impressive stuff