Analyzing impact of Novak Djokovic’s victory at the Shanghai Masters

Novak Djokovic has regained his crown at the Rolex Shanghai Masters by beating Del Potro in a tightly contested final. With this victory, he has displayed his hunger to get back to the no.1.

The victory has given Djokovic a slim chance at regaining the no.1 ranking if Nadal continues his performance slide since the US Open. Ever since that defeat, Djokovic looks like a man on a mission. And that is to show that he is indeed the best tennis player on the planet at the moment, and he wants the crown back. His intensity and aggression were on a different level altogether in Shanghai as he defended his title.

This also means Rafa needs to get his act together and perform well in the 3 remaining tournaments of the year which will be all indoor tournaments. The fact that he has 0 points to defend compared to 1500 for Djokovic at the WTF, gives him a good chance to end the year as no. 1, but any further slips in performance may prove costly.

He currently leads Djokovic by about 400 points, and with Basel, Paris and London to come, he must win around 1000 points in order to ensure his stay at the top of the rankings. Whatever happens, we are all set for a cracker of a season end tennis championships this time.

Rafa Nadal’s 3rd reign at No.1 would be a long one

Rafa Nadal has regained the no.1 ranking after reaching the finals of Beijing Open. Several factors indicate this would be a long reign at no.1. 

Rafa’s currently has a healthy lead of about 2700 points over Djokovic in the year to date ATP rankings. Rafa has 0 points to defend till the Australian Open next year. In the same period, Djokovic defends around 4500 ATP points. This should give Rafa a healthy lead over Novak by beginning next year.

Also, Rafa’s  form at hard courts has been almost impeccable this year (27-1), and he is playing the most aggressive hard court tennis of his career. He has played much closer to the baseline and dominated and bulldozed opponents with his rocket forehand. He has victories over Federer and Djokovic in fast hard courts of Cincinati and the U S Open respectively. 

All these point towards a good season end performance by Rafa in the remaining 2 Masters at Shanghai and Paris, and at the World Tour Finals in London. 

Also, Rafa’s clay court dominance over the years would help him defend the points won over the clay season in 2014. Also, he has no points to defend at Wimbledon. All this would mean Rafa would hang on to the no. 1 raking at least till August next year. Then the biggest challenges would start for Rafa when he would have to defend big points over the US Open 2014 series.

It would thus be safe to say that tennis world would see Rafa at the top for a long period now, with Djokovic and others playing catch up for much of the coming 12 months.

Rafa Nadal would regain no. 1 ranking at the Beijing Open

Rafa Nadal has embarked on his journey to reclaim his no.1 ranking. The Beijing Open, starting 30^th September, provides him an opportunity to get back to no.1 .

Rafa only needs to reach the final of Beijing Open to get back to no. 1 in the ATP rankings. Considering his form on hard courts this year (22-0), it’s not wise to bet against him doing so.

Also with Andy Murray out with injury, the only serious threat to Rafa would be Djokovic, who won’t meet him before the finals. So, Rafa reaching the finals and dethroning Djokovic is a big possibility.

This would be his 3^rd reign at no. 1 and considering his current lead of nearly 3000 points over Djokovic, this might well be a long reign at the top of the rankings.