The last 5 changes in the No.1 ranking in men’s tennis

Rafael Nadal has capped off a fine year by reclaiming the World No.1 ranking from Serbian Novak Djokovic. He was comprehensively beaten in the final of the China Open by Djokovic, but he can take solace in the fact that come Monday, he will be the top-ranked player in the men’s game.

Over the last few years, the No.1 ranking has been swapped around by Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Here are the last five changes that have happened at the top of the rankings before Nadal’s return to the top this week.

October 29, 2012 – Novak Djokovic

Roger Federer’s withdrawal from the Paris Masters last year meant that Djokovic would reclaim the No.1 ranking the following week. After losing the spot to Federer earlier in the year after Wimbledon.

Post that, he went on to win the Rogers Cup in Toronto and finished runner-up at Cincinnati. He also reached the final of the 2012 US Open where he lost to Andy Murray, but won the China Open and Shanghai Masters. Those wins coupled with some not so good results for Federer saw him usurp the Swiss and finish the year as No.1.

July 9, 2012 – Roger Federer

Along similar lines to that of Nadal’s fine run this year, Federer managed to put together a fine run of results culminating in his triumph at Wimbledon 2012 where he beat Andy Murray to clinch his 17th Grand Slam title.

The run actually started towards the end of the 2011 season. He pulled out of the Shanghai Masters that year which resulted him in dropping out of the top three for the first time since June 2003. But he came back with a bang, to win the last three tournaments of the year –in Basel, the Paris Masters and year end championships in London – to finish on a high note.

He even crushed his nemesis Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals en route to the title at the season ending Masters in London.

At the start of the 2012 season, Federer lost to Nadal in the semi-finals of the Australian Open, but had a strong hardcourt season with wins at Dubai and the Masters 1000 events at Indian Wells and Madrid.

He lost in the semi-finals again at the French Open to Novak Djokovic, but had an inspired run on his favourite grass at Wimbledon which included the scalp of the World No.1 Djokovic in the semis.

He won once again at Cincinnati.

His run came a full circle with a semi-final loss in the Shanghai Masters and him deciding to pull out of the Paris Masters which ultimately helped Djokovic reclaim his ranking.

July 4, 2011 – Novak Djokovic

The 2011 season was a breakout year for the Serbian. He won a total of 10 tournaments that year which included three Grand Slams – the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open – and also five Masters 1000 titles.

He also set a record for the most prize money won in a single season. He finished the year with an incredible 70-6 record, some of the losses coming towards the end of the year where his form tapered a bit.

That season from the Serbian was declared by many former greats as one of the best ever seasons. Pete Sampras called it “one of the best achievements in all of sports”. Boris Becker called it “one of the best years in tennis of all time” saying that it “may not be the best statistically, but he’s beaten Federer, he’s beaten Nadal, he’s beaten everybody that came around to challenge him in the biggest tournaments in the world.”

Rafael Nadal, who lost to Djokovic in six finals that year described Djokovic’s performances as “probably the highest level of tennis that I ever saw”.

June 7, 2010 – Rafael Nadal

If 2011 belonged to Djokovic, then 2010 was Nadal’s year which propelled him to the top spot. He pulled out in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open against Andy Murray and then came back at Indian Wells, but lost to Ivan Ljubicic.

His first tour title came at Monte Carlo and really came into form in the clay court season and took the French Open again after Federer won it the previous year following Robin Soderling’s shock defeat of Nadal. Ironically, in 2010, Soderling had taken out Federer.

The victory at the French Open coupled with Federer’s loss in the quarters allowed Nadal to take back the No.1 ranking denying Federer the chance to surpass the all-time record for weeks as No.1. Through to the end of the year, he consolidated his position at the top of the rankings, and went on to win the two remaining Grand Slams – Wimbledon and US Open.

The US Open victory enabled him to complete the Career Slam as it was his first US Open title. It also made him only the second male player after Andre Agassi to achieve the ‘Career Golden Slam’ – winning the Olympic gold as well as all four Grand Slams at least once.

6 July, 2009 – Roger Federer

In 2008, Federer won just one Grand Slam title – at the US Open over Andy Murray. That by Federer’s lofty standards of the time was a huge disappointment.

That year saw Federer defeated by Nadal in two Grand Slam finals back-to-back at the French Open and at his favourite Wimbledon, where incidentally he was going for six straight wins to break Björn Borg’s record.

At the Australian Open, he had lost earlier in the semi-finals rather tamely to eventual winner Djokovic, a loss that ended his record of 10 consecutive finals. It was also revealed later in the year that Federer had suffered from mononucleosis that year which affected his performances on court.

He ended the year as world no. 2 after Nadal had managed to overhaul him to the top ranking.

In 2009, Federer achieved his Grand Slam dream when he lifted his maiden French Open title beating Robin Soderling in the final. He also completed the double of the French and Wimbledon when he beat Andy Roddick in a thriller a month down the line.

Federer earlier had a heart-wrenching loss at the Australian Open to Nadal, after which he broke down in tears during the presentation ceremony. And he should have ideally had three Grand Slams that year, but he ran into an inspired Juan Martin Del Potro in the final who went on to shock Federer and claim his maiden Grand Slam title.

But the run had been good enough for him to reclaim his No.1 ranking, after his Wimbledon win which saw him go past Pete Sampras’ record of 14 Grand Slams.