To return to number 1, Nadal must be champion and Medvedev cannot reach the quarter-finals
Photo: Western and Southern Open
Cincinnati (USA) – Rafael Nadal’s confirmation in the Cincinnati Masters 1000 bracket opened up the possibility of a fight for the top spot against current No. 1 Daniil Medvedev. For this to happen, Nadal must be tournament champion and Medvedev can’t reach the quarter-finals the end.
Nadal is playing his first tournament since Wimbledon and is recovering from an abdominal injury. Current number 3 in the world, the Spaniard is the second seed in Cincinnati. Champion of the tournament in 2013, he made his debut against Croatian Borna Coric or a qualifying player.
The last time Nadal held the top spot in the world rankings was in the list released on January 20, 2020, being subsequently overtaken by Novak Djokovic. In his career, the 36-year-old veteran has accumulated 209 weeks as world number 1, including 56 in a row. He finished five separate seasons on top.
Daniil Medvedev has 12 weeks at No. 1, with the last nine being consecutive. To maintain his lead after Cincinnati, the 26-year-old Russian must win two games in the tournament. He made his debut against the winner between the Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp and the American Maxime Cressy. In case of victory, the possible rivals are the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, the Canadian Denis Shapovalov and the Americans Jenson Brooksby or Tommy Paul.
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