After the retirement of Roger Federer, another era draws to a close in men’s tennis. On March 20, at the end of the Indian Wells Masters, the Spaniard Rafael Nadal will be excluded from the world top 10 for the first time in… 18 years.
Those 18 consecutive years in the top 10 on the planet is an unprecedented mark in men’s tennis. Nadal’s 912 weeks in the top flight puts him far ahead of American Jimmy Connors, who was there for 789 weeks between 1973 and 1988.
In fact, in April 2005, when the man with 21 major titles entered the top 10 there, the iPod nano hadn’t even been launched yet.
Only Navratilova is ahead of him
Federer, he remained in the top 10 for 742 consecutive weeks, between 2002 and 2016. And all genders combined, only one athlete is ahead of Nadal in this prestigious longevity list: the American Martina Navratilova, who remained among the 10 best players for … 1000 weeks in a row, reports the Tennis.com site.
Nadal’s exceptional feat of arms did not go unnoticed. After his defeat in the semi-finals in Dubai, his biggest rival still active, the Serbian Novak Djokovic, underlined his great consistency, despite a career often slowed down by serious injuries.
“I have total respect for him, praised the world number 1, who, for his part, spent 555 consecutive weeks in the top 10 between 2007 and 2017. Being able to be in the top 10 for almost 20 years old is simply breathtaking.”
“It speaks to the quality of his tennis and his consistency throughout the year. He plays well on all surfaces”, added “Djoko”.
An absence that hurts
Injured in the leg in his loss in the second round of the Australian Open against American Mackenzie MacDonald in January, “Rafa” still does not know when he will be able to resume competition.
The Spaniard, currently eighth in the world, will drop to ninth on Monday. He is already guaranteed to skip Indian Wells, which begins next week, as well as the Miami Masters at the end of the month.
It is this first package that will hurt his ranking the most. A year ago, “Rafa”, then all fire, all flame at the start of the season, was aiming for a fourth consecutive title in California. Nadal had reached the final, where he was beaten by American Taylor Fritz.
On March 20, the 36-year-old is therefore guaranteed to lose the 600 points associated with this final and to find himself, at best, 11e in the world.
