RelatedEnd of year rankings:Nadal knocks of Federer
Spaniard Rafael Nadal is guaranteed to finish this season as the No. 1 player in the South African Airways ATP Rankings, ending Roger Federer's four-year reign.
After Federer’s semifinal loss to Andy Murray in the Mutua Madrilena Masters Madrid semifinals on Saturday, Nadal is guaranteed to claim the No. 1 year-end position. The 22-year-old Mallorca native is the first left-hander to finish No. 1 since John McEnroe in 1984 and the third lefty in the 36-year history of the ATP Rankings. McEnroe was No. 1 from 1981-84 and Jimmy Connors finished No. 1 from 1974-78.
Nadal is the 15th different year-end No. 1 and the first Spaniard to finish the season as the top player in the world. Prior to this season Nadal finished No. 2 the past three years. Nadal took over No. 1 on August 18 after ranking No. 2 for a record 160 consecutive weeks (since July 25, 2005). Federer held the top position for a record 237 straight weeks from Feb. 2, 2004 to Aug. 17, 2008.
Nadal said: "To become No. 1 during the year was one of my goals and it is important to have achieved it. Moreover, if you finish the year as No. 1 it is even more special. I am also very happy to bring something more to Spanish sport, something for Spanish history and for our great tennis tradition."
Nadal leads the ATP circuit with eight titles and an 80-10 match record in 2008. In July, he became the first man since Bjorn Borg in 1980 to win the Roland Garros and Wimbledon double after dethroning five-time champion Federer in a five-set epic at the All England Club. Nadal followed by clinching his 12th career ATP Masters Series title, and third of the season, at the Rogers Cup in Toronto. He won 32 consecutive matches before falling to World No. 3 Novak Djokovic in the Cincinnati semifinals. He also won a gold medal in singles at the Beijing Olympics.
Nadal is one of four players to have so far qualified for the circuit-ending Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai, beginning November 9. Federer, Djokovic and Murray are the other qualifiers. Four singles berths remain up for grabs with just over two weeks of the regular ATP season to play.
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