With Rome title, Nadal back at No 1; Halep leads WTA charts

Rafael Nadal is right back where he wants to be heading into the French Open. The Spaniard reclaimed the No 1 ranking on Monday from Roger Federer, who is sitting out the clay season to prepare for Wimbledon.

Alex Zverev is in a good place entering Roland Garros, too.

Nadal came out on top in a matchup of this year's top two clay-court players Sunday, beating defending champion Zverev 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 Sunday to win a record-extending eighth Italian Open title.

Coming a week after a loss in the Madrid Open quarterfinals to Dominic Thiem, Nadal has his confidence back entering the year's second Grand Slam in Paris, which starts next Sunday.

Nadal, who improved to 5-0 in his career against Zverev, has won a record 10 French Opens.

"Of course Rafa will be the favorite there," said Zverev, who has never been past the fourth round in a major. "I'll be in the other half of the draw and that's a good thing."

"My first victory here in 2005 is one of my greatest memories," Nadal said during the trophy presentation. "To have this cup with me so many years later is really specialissimo."

Sharapova on rise, Svitolina stays put

Paris: Maria Sharapova's run to the Italian Open semi-finals has earned her an 11-place jump to 29th in the latest WTA rankings on Monday.

While Sharapova was moving up the charts Elina Svitolina remained at number four despite her successful title defence in Rome.

Beaten finalist Simona Halep retains her number one spot with Caroline Wozniacki in second and Garbine Muguruza in third.

For Sharapova, this latest jump came after her 12-rung climb following her progress to the quarter-finals in Madrid the week before.