A proud Rafael Nadal has described his return to world No.1 for the first time in three years as ‘very special.’
The ten-time French Open champion will officially return to the top of the rankings next week. He achieved the milestone after Roger Federer pulled out of the Cincinnati Masters due to a back injury. Federer was the only player capable of denying Nadal the top ranking.
Nadal’s rise comes after what has been a stellar start to the year. Since reaching his first grand slam final in almost three years at the Australian Open, he has won four titles on the clay (including a record tenth at Roland Garros). Furthermore, he has reached three other ATP finals on a hard court, losing twice to Federer and once to Sam Querrey.
“For me to be in that position is something very special.” Nadal told news agency AFP about returning to No.1. “I have the passion and love for the game. That’s why I’m able to be back in that position again.”
At one point, the 31-year-old was unsure if he would ever headline the Emirates rankings again. Nadal has already spent a total of 141 weeks as world No.1, which is the seventh longest in the Open Era. In recent years he has been troubled by both knee and wrist injuries. Last season he missed two-and-a-half months of the tour due to a wrist problem and ended his season early because of the issue. Now back to full health, the Spaniard is staying grounded about his current form.
“If you don’t have doubts, it’s because you are very arrogant and I’m not very arrogant. There’s a young generation up and coming. It’s very tough to come back and be number one.”
Becoming world No.1 is a tough task, but staying there might be even harder. Over the coming weeks it is expected that the Spaniard will be fighting over the position with world No.3 Federer. Federer has no points to defend for the rest of the season. The two have already played each other on the tour three times this season with the Swiss player winning all of them.
“Roger and I are having great seasons. One of us will have the chance to have that position for more weeks. I’m going to try and do my best this week and see what happens.” Nadal pledged.
Nadal will return to action at the Western and Southern Open later this week. His first opponent will be Richard Gasquet, a player who he has a 14-0 winning head-to-head against.
