Rafael Nadal Stays Atop ATP Rankings, Roger Federer Aims to Overtake

Madrid: Rafael Nadal continued to hold the top spot in the men's Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world singles rankings, released on Monday, while Switzerland's Roger Federer maintained a close second with a chance to overtake the injured Spaniard.

To dethrone Nadal and reclaim the lead for the first time since October 2012, Federer will need to reach the semi-finals in the Rotterdam Open this week, from which Nadal has been absent while recovering from leg surgery, reports Efe.

Federer, a 20-time Grand Slam champion, closed to within 155 points of Nadal after his win last month at the Australian Open against world No. 3 Marin Cilic of Croatia.

Alexander Zverev of Germany jumped to fourth place ahead of Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov, while Spain's Pablo Carreno-Busta maintained his hold on 10th place, continuing to keep South Africa's Kevin Anderson out of the top 10.

The current ATP rankings and point scores are as follows:

1. Rafael Nadal (Spain) 9,760 points
2. Roger Federer (Switzerland) 9,605
3. Marin Cilic (Croatia) 4,960
4. Alexander Zverev (Germany) 4,450
5. Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) 4,425
6. Dominic Thiem (Austria) 4,060
7. David Goffin (Belgium) 3,400
8. Jack Sock (United States) 2,880
9. Juan Martin del Potro (Argentina) 2,815
10. Pablo Carreno-Busta (Spain) 2,705

Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki continued to maintain a firm grip on her place as the world's top-ranked player in the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) rankings. She was nearly 350 points ahead of Romania's Simona Halep. Wozniacki ousted Halep as world No. 1 last month after winning the Australian Open title.

In an unchanged top 10 this week, Spain's Garbiñe Muguruza came in fourth, ahead of the Czech Republic's Karolina Pliskova.

The current WTA rankings and point scores are as follows:

1. Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) 7,965 points
2. Simona Halep (Romania) 7,616
3. Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) 5,835
4. Garbiñe Muguruza (Spain) 5,690
5. Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic) 5,445
6. Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia) 5,000
7. Caroline Garcia (France) 4,495
8. Venus Williams (United States) 4,277
9. Angelique Kerber (Germany) 3,031
10. Julia Goerges (Germany) 2,900