Rafael Nadal returned to No. 1 in the ATP Rankings on April 2, beginning his fifth stint at the pinnacle of men’s professional tennis, nine-and-a-half years after he first attained the top spot in August 2008.
The icon of the game, who begins his 168th week at No. 1, replaces Switzerland’s Roger Federer, who had held the top ranking since February 19 and extended his record to 308 weeks overall, Atpworldtour.com reported.
The 31-year-old Nadal, who has been omnipresent in the Top 10 since April 2005, is now two weeks shy of sixth-placed John McEnroe’s mark in top spot (170). Nadal first ascended to the top spot at the age of 22 and has spent four previous stints at No. 1 - 46 weeks between August 18, 2008 and July 5, 2009; 56 weeks from June 7, 2010 to July 3, 2011; 39 weeks between October 7, 2013 and July 6, 2014; and 26 weeks from August 21, 2017 to February 18, 2018. Only Federer (309), Pete Sampras (286), Ivan Lendl (270), Jimmy Connors (268), Novak Djokovic (223) and McEnroe (170) have spent more weeks at No. 1 since August 1973.
In each of the seasons he started his stints at No. 1, Nadal has finished atop the year-end ATP Rankings (2008, 2010, 2013 and 2017).
