Novak Djokovic Loss Guarantees World Number One Spot For Rafael Nadal

World Number one and the defending champion, Novak Djokovic experienced a defeat at the hands of Stefanos Tsitsipas in Shanghai. With this slump, Djokovic loses his top-ranking of World Number one as he drops 1600 ATP points in a single day.

As the Serb will not be playing the tournaments in Vienna or Basel the Spaniard, Rafael Nadal will take the ATP’s niche on November 4, 2019. Even if Rafa plans to skip Paris Masters 2019 and Djokovic claims the title in Paris, Nadal will still be the World Number one tennis player. Presently, Rafa is 320 ATP points behind Novak. 

The Serb cannot be present in Vienna or Basel because Nadal and Djokovic will be featuring at an exhibition event in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Rafael Nadal To Play Novak Djokovic in Kazakhstan

With Rafa and Novak splitting all the Slams this year between themselves makes Roger Federer Slam-less this season. However, he ranks inside the top three ATP Rankings. Even if Federer claims all the titles in the remaining part of the season, namely, Shanghai, Basel, Paris, and London, the Swiss would finish the year with around 9,500 points which are not enough to conclude the year as the World Number one tennis player.

After losing in three sets, the Serb presented himself in the press conference room without even cooling down. “I just wasn’t sharp enough. I wasn’t sure how my body would adjust to this new challenge,” Djokovic said. He mentioned about lack of energy and intensity in the match. He came up with unforced errors during the crucial moments of the encounter.

Even before dethroning the reigning champion in Shanghai, Stefanos Tsitsipas qualified for the ATP Finals 2019 as Fabio Fognini fell to Daniil Medvedev before Tsitsipas’ match for underway.

On Friday, with Tsitsipas’ 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory at Shanghai Rolex Masters 2019 he attains his victory over the ‘Big Three’ of tennis in 2019. Earlier this year, Dominic Thiem was successful in doing it during the months of April, May, and June. “Novak wasn’t an easy task. I know that I had to go beyond my limits. It was a great match for me. As for Novak, he gave a great fight,” he said after his win over the Serbian great. 

Tsitsipas will next play Medvedev who reached his sixth straight semifinal of the year in Shanghai.