As Dominic Thiem takes out Rafael Nadal from the Australian Open 2020, the Spaniard fails to defend his last year’s runner-up points at the Happy Slam. With his loss on Wednesday, the race to the World Number one position between Nadal and Novak Djokovic has reignited.

As Nadal has failed to reach the semi-finals in Melbourne, the Serb has a chance to regain his top spot on the ATP’s summit. Djokovic can dethrone Nadal from the apex only if he defends his Australian Open title.

ATP points summation on Monday for Rafael Nadal

Rafa entered the Australian Open 2020 tournament with 10,235 ATP points. After his quarterfinal loss to Thiem, Nadal will be losing his 1,200 points (runner-up) from the Australian Open 2019. And his 2020 quarterfinal run in Melbourne will credit 360 points in his ATP points account. In simple terms, Rafael Nadal will have a total of 9,395 ATP points, once the fresh rankings release on Monday.

Novak Djokovic’s ATP points total at Australian Open 2020

The defending champion at Aussie Open, Djokovic stepped with 9,720 ATP points on the Melbourne’s court. If Novak clears the Roger Federer test on Thursday and then defends his title on Sunday, the Serb will have the same number of points on Monday (9,720 ATP points). With that total, Djokovic will be ranked World Number one and he will be 325 ATP points ahead of Nadal on the roster.

Also Read – Can Roger Federer Beat Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open 2020 Semi-Finals?

After surpassing Federer in the last-four round, and if Djokovic surrenders to Dominic Thiem or Alexander Zverev in the finals, the Serb will have 8,920 ATP points which are clearly not enough for the World Number one spot. In a nutshell, the Serbian legend has to lift his eighth Australian Open title in order to recover his number one position.

If Nadal would have defeated Thiem in quarters, he could have protected his number one niche. By booking his semifinal berth, Novak couldn’t have reclaimed his top mark by any means at Australian Open. By doing so, Nadal would have earned 9,755 ATP points and Djokovic’s title defense wouldn’t have sufficed to retrieve his World Number one position.