Rafael Nadal will overtake Andy Murray to reclaim the world number one ranking next week after Roger Federer announced his withdrawal from the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati with a back problem.
Only Federer could have prevented the Spaniard from returning to the summit for the first time since July 2014, with Murray guaranteed to be toppled as he continues his recuperation from a hip problem.
Seven-time ???? @rogerfederer will miss @CincyTennis. More: https://t.co/ZlI6V7jBVq #ATPMasters1000 pic.twitter.com/huOlB4rwUL
— ATP World Tour (@ATPWorldTour) August 14, 2017
The Scot, who lost to Marin Cilic in the 2016 Cincinnati final, will lose 600 points, meaning Nadal would usurp him even if the 31-year-old followed his big-name rivals in withdrawing from the tournament.
Nadal is the only player in the world’s top six still standing in the Cincinnati event, with Federer now joining Murray, Cilic, Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka on the sidelines.
Entrenando en #Cincinnati! Practicing in Cincinnati! pic.twitter.com/b7BMY4hfpo
— Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) August 12, 2017
Apologising to Cincinnati fans in a statement, Federer said: “Unfortunately, I tweaked my back in Montreal and I need to rest this week.”
Nadal could have reclaimed the world number one spot by reaching the semi-finals in Montreal last week, but fell to Denis Shapovalov in the third round.
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article