Rafael Nadal No 1 Ranking

Nadal will replace Roger Federer at the top of ATP world ranking as from Monday if he grabs the title, as from August 11 if he loses in the finals, or seven days later if Novak Djokovic knocks him off in the semifinals. If Nadal is to earn alpha male status at the tournament in Ohio, he has to end the week biting into the trophy, and Federer, who has topped the rankings for almost 4½ years, would have to go out early.

But, if Nadal does not overtake Federer in Cincinnati, there will be further opportunities at the Beijing Olympics and the US Open in New York. Federer, 26, has won 55 career singles titles, but he has added only two to that tally this season, with tournament victories on the clay of Estoril and on the grass of Halle. Nadal, though, has won seven trophies so far, with four clay-court titles at Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Hamburg and the French Open, a pair of grass-court wins at Queen’s Club and Wimbledon, and then one on a hard court in Toronto, so has demonstrated once more that he “can win on any surface”.