Congratulations to Rafa Nadal for securing the year-end #1 ranking!
I wasn't sure this was going to happen. Novak Djokovic looked to be comfortably on top of the ATP Rankings after Wimbledon and at that point, many were thinking he would win the US Open as well. As it turned out, Nadal won the US Open - his second major and fourth title of the year - to put him in the lead of the ATP Race. Rafa had a slim lead over Novak leading to the ATP Finals this week and with Djokovic being eliminated before the semifinals after losses to Dominic Thiem and Roger Federer, Rafa was guaranteed to end the year at the top of the ATP rankings.
This is the fifth time that Nadal is the year-end #1, tying him with Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Jimmy Connos. (Pete Sampras, who ended the year #1 six times, hold the men's record). At 33, he is the oldest player to end the year #1. He's also the first person to achieve this five times in 5 non-consecutive years (he was previously year-end number one in 2008, 2010, 2013, and 2017).
Unfortunately, Rafa was also eliminated from the ATP Finals. He had a 2-1 win-loss record in his round-robin matches, which would normally be enough to move forward to the semifinals. Unfortunately, Andre Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas also had with 2-1 win-loss records but they both had better set quotients so they moved forward instead. Still, 2019 has been a spectacular year for Rafa and his fans.
Congratulations Rafa for achieving your fifth year-end #1 ranking and good luck in 2020!
It's official.@RafaelNadal will end 2019 as the year-end No. 1. pic.twitter.com/t2RaNtIE4N— ATP Tour (@atptour) November 14, 2019
I wasn't sure this was going to happen. Novak Djokovic looked to be comfortably on top of the ATP Rankings after Wimbledon and at that point, many were thinking he would win the US Open as well. As it turned out, Nadal won the US Open - his second major and fourth title of the year - to put him in the lead of the ATP Race. Rafa had a slim lead over Novak leading to the ATP Finals this week and with Djokovic being eliminated before the semifinals after losses to Dominic Thiem and Roger Federer, Rafa was guaranteed to end the year at the top of the ATP rankings.
This is the fifth time that Nadal is the year-end #1, tying him with Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Jimmy Connos. (Pete Sampras, who ended the year #1 six times, hold the men's record). At 33, he is the oldest player to end the year #1. He's also the first person to achieve this five times in 5 non-consecutive years (he was previously year-end number one in 2008, 2010, 2013, and 2017).
Unfortunately, Rafa was also eliminated from the ATP Finals. He had a 2-1 win-loss record in his round-robin matches, which would normally be enough to move forward to the semifinals. Unfortunately, Andre Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas also had with 2-1 win-loss records but they both had better set quotients so they moved forward instead. Still, 2019 has been a spectacular year for Rafa and his fans.
Congratulations Rafa for achieving your fifth year-end #1 ranking and good luck in 2020!
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