20-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal has dropped out of the top three of the men’s ATP rankings after falling to American Lloyd Harris in the Round of 16 at the Washington Open, an ATP 500 tournament.
Nadal was ranked third behind Serbia’s Novak Djokovic and Russia’s Daniil Medvedev before his exit from the Washington Open. The Spaniard has had to endure a lean period after a dominant season from rival Djokovic, who has won all three Grand Slams on offer this year, including Nadal’s favoured French Open, and would be looking to complete a clean sweep at Flushing Meadows when the US Open comes up. The Washington Open was won by Italy’s 19-year-old Jannik Sinner, who has now climbed up to 15th on the ATP rankings. Nadal has been replaced in third spot by Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Olympic gold medalist Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem, Andrey Rublev, Matteo Berrettini, Roger Federer and Denis Shapovalov make up the rest of the top ten in the men’s ranking. Djokovic has held onto the number 1 spot for a record 333 weeks, extending his lead over Federer’s previous record of 310 weeks.
In other news, Great Britain’s 105-ranked Andy Murray has been moved into the main draw for this year’s US Open after 35-year-old Stanislas Wawrinka pulled put of the tournament after he underwent a foot surgery. Murray has played only three Grand Slam matches in 2021 after spending the majority of the last few years on the sidelines with severe hip injuries.
