Nadal maintains top spot at ATP rankings

Spain's Rafael Nadal maintained the top spot in the men's Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) World singles rankings, released on Monday.

Last week, Nadal dethroned Switzerland's Roger Federer, a 20-time Grand Slam champion, who fell to second place following his loss in the first match of the Miami Open last month, reports Efe.

Following the loss, Federer had announced that he would skip the entire clay-court season, including the French Open.

Nadal, the undisputed "King of Clay", is on an opposite trajectory, returning from a three-month injury absence to win his first two official matches last week, representing Spain in its 3-2 Davis Cup quarterfinals victory over Germany.

Croatia's Marin Cilic came in third, ahead of Germany's Alexander Zverev.

Further down the rankings, Spain's Roberto Carballes Baena climbed three spots to 78th, while his compatriots Pablo Carreño Busta and Roberto Bautista Agut remained in the 12th and 17th places, respectively.

Another Spanish player, Pablo Andujar, rocketed 243 places up to the 355th spot after he emerged victorious on Sunday at the inaugural ATP Challenger Tour event in Alicante, Spain.

The injury-plagued former World No. 32 claimed his first title since 2014, when he won the Swiss Open Gstaad.

The current ATP rankings and point scores are as follows:

1. Rafael Nadal (Spain) 8,770 points

2. Roger Federer (Switzerland) 8,670

3. Marin Cilic (Croatia) 4,985

4. Alexander Zverev (Germany) 4,925

5. Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) 4,635

6. Juan Martin del Potro (Argentina) 4,470

7. Dominic Thiem (Austria) 3,665

8. Kevin Anderson (South Africa) 3,390

9. John Isner (USA) 3,125

10. David Goffin (Belgium) 3,110

--IANS

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