PARIS: Serbia’s Novak Djokovic is closing in on Rafael Nadal’s number one spot after winning the Shanghai Masters title, according to latest ATP rankings released on Monday.

Nadal is struggling with a knee injury and has decided to sit out the current Asian segment of the ATP tour. Last week he joined the clean-up operation after deadly flash floods on his native Majorca.

After his 6-3, 6-4 victory over Borna Coric in the Shanghai final on Sunday, Djokovic is just 215 points behind the Spaniard.

Top 20 ATP rankings (as of Oct 15): 1. Rafael Nadal (Spain) 7660 points, 2. Novak Djokovic (Serbia) 7445 (+1), 3. Roger Federer (Switzerland) 6260 (-1), 4. Juan Martin del Potro (Argentina) 5860, 5. Alexander Zverev (Germany) 5025, 6. Marin Cilic (Croatia) 4185, 7. Dominic Thiem (Austria) 3825, 8. Kevin Anderson (South Africa) 3775, 9. Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) 3440, 10. John Isner (US) 3290, 11. Kei Nishikori (Japan) 2910 (+1), 12. David Goffin (Belgium) 2855 (-1), 13. Borna Coric (Croatia) 2415 (+6), 14. Fabio Fognini (Italy) 2315 (-1), 15. Kyle Edmund (Great Britain) 2125 (-1), 16. Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece) 2007 (-1), 17. Diego Schwartzman (Argentina) 1940 (-1), 18. Jack Sock (US) 1850 (-1), 19. Marco Cecchinato (Italy) 1838 (+2), 20. Milos Raonic (Canada) 1810.

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2018