Stephen Dunmoye
Rafael Nadal has slipped out of the world’s top ten for the first time in 18 years as the Spaniard dropped to number thirteen on the ATP rankings.
The 36 year-old Spaniard has not since April 24 2005 held what is such a highly regarded status in tennis.
This marks the end of a quietly astonishing period of consistency in a global individual sport.
It is all the more remarkable for the fact that he can hardly claim to have had the sort 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 left as Prime Minister and Sir Alex Ferguson eight ahead of him as Manchester United manager.
In the intervening period the Mallorcan has kept his place at the top table of tennis, with his position there underpinned by his extraordinary domination of the French Open.
On the twelve month system of roll-on, roll-off points, it helps when you have won Roland Garros fourteen times.
Nadal’s fall partly owes itself to him losing the 600 he earned a year ago for making the final of Indian Wells. In his absence it was won late on Sunday night by Carlos Alcaraz, defeating Daniil Medvedev.
And were it not for points being stripped from Wimbledon – where he made the semi-finals last year – he would still have a prized top ten slot.
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 continuing United States ban on those who are unvaccinated against Covid.
Nadal now only has 13 tournaments counting towards his standing, due to the increasing struggle to keep himself fit enough to compete. He has not played since a hip problem contributed to him losing in the second round of the Australian Open.
However, he is back practising and expects to play the Monte Carlo Open in mid-April, which is also where Djokovic can be expected to pop up next as they begin the run-in to the French Open.
Monte Carlo has also been a major contributor to Nadal staying in the top ten, as he has won it eleven times in all.
While obsessed with tennis he also has other interests in his life such as golf, poker and an eponymous academy, and he is now a parent. His view appears to be that you are a long time retired, and in the GOAT debate he needs a win at the French this year to have any chance of fending off Djokovic, with whom he is locked on 22 Grand Slam titles each.
Meanwhile, Nadal will miss the Miami Open, which begins this week, and where the remarkable Alcaraz, still two months shy of his 20th birthday will attempt to win the Sunshine Double after his triumph in the Californian desert.
After making the fourth round in Indian Wells Jack Draper, 21, is one of the biggest risers this week, back up to number 43. The slight tear in a stomach muscle that contributed to him retiring against Alcaraz is not as bad as initially feared, and he is keeping his options open about playing in Miami ahead of the men’s draw later on Monday.
