Novak Djokovic lost his spot atop the ATP World Rankings, but played a nearly flawless match to beat Rafael Nadal for the title in China, his fourth, 6-3, 6-4. He broke the Spaniard at the start of both sets, and never dropped his own serve.
Nadal, however, will retake the No. 1 slot when the rankings come out on Monday. This is his third climb to the top, since he lost it to Djokovic in July of 2011, and caps off an amazing return-from-injury season, when he came back at No. 5, his lowest ranking since 2005.
Most weeks at No. 1:
Roger Federer – 302
Pete Sampras – 286
Ivan Lendl – 270
Jimmy Connors – 268
John McEnroe – 170
Bjorn Borg – 109
Rafael Nadal – 102 (103, as of tomorrow)
Andre Agassi – 101
Novak Djokovic – 101
Lleyton Hewitt – 80
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Juan Martin Del Potro beat Milos Raonic to take the Rakuten Open in Tokyo, his third title of the year, and 16th career trophy. The win raises his ranking to #5.
Credits: Cover Photo: Marianne Bevis (Creative Commons License)