Rafael Nadal dropped out of the Top 10 after 18 years and his fall in the ranking marks the end of an era

On Sunday, April 24, 2005, when the dollar price in Argentina was 2.91 pesos, the Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal He won the Barcelona title by defeating his compatriot Juan Carlos “Mosquito” Ferrero 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) and 6-3. The left-hander was 18 years and ten months old, and he had not yet won even the first of the fourteen Roland Garros trophies that he holds today. His success in the traditional Count of Godó allowed him to dawn on Monday, April 25 inside the Top 10 for the first time: Jumped from 11th to 7th. Since then, the Matador had never ceased to be one of the best ten rackets on the circuit… until this Monday, when it appeared number 13 in the ranking. This way one of the most impressive records is finished of tennis history.

Between that Monday in 2005 and this exactly 6538 days (912 weeks) passed, a period that was practically impossible to measure. When a Mallorcan teenager who played in a tank top and fisherman pants jumped to the super elite, the Top 10 (the select tennis club) was made up of many galactics. It is worth reviewing that handful of stars: the Swiss Roger Federer (23 years old) led the ranking; Below him were other number 1s such as the Australian Lleyton Hewitt (2nd), the American Andy Roddick (3rd) and the Russian Marat Safin (4th); Gastón Gaudio was the 5th and the British Tim Henman, the 6th; Behind Nadal (7th) were figures such as the American Andre Agassi (8th; he was 34 years old), the Spanish Carlos Moya (9th; Nadal’s current coach) and David Nalbandian (10th, 23 years old; Guillermo Coria was 11th and Guillermo Cañas, 13th).

Nadal played his last game on January 18. A -premature- defeat by 6-4, 6-4 and 7-5 against the American Mackenzie McDonald, in the second round of the Australian Open that he was defending, was not the most painful for him. The most distressing thing was suffering a new injury: in the iliac psoas of the left leg. Since then he has not competed again and his reappearance on the tour is planned for Monte Carlo (from April 9), the first Masters 1000 of the European tour on brick dust, the surface that he dominated like no one else. Nadal was deducted the 600 points corresponding to the 2022 Indian Wells final; This situation, combined with the results of the Polish Hubert Hurkacz (currently 9th; +2), the Italian Jannik Sinner (11th; +2) and the British Cameron Norrie (12th), evicted Rafa from the Top Ten and they relegated him to the thirteenth step. In addition, the American Frances Tiafoe threatens the 13th position of Nadal since he is located 14th, with just five points difference (2715 vs. 2710) and could surpass him in the Miami Open, which will begin this Wednesday.

Nadal’s departure from the Top 10 undoubtedly represents a change of era. His validity and longevity on the circuit, despite all the physical obstacles he suffered, marked a golden time, left a mark. Just one example to understand the record from which Rafa, the 22-time Grand Slam singles champion, broke away: to equal the Mallorcan, Carlitos Alcaraz (the wonder boy who returned to the top of the ATP ranking after winning the title in Indian Wells , by beating the Russian Daniil Medvedev in the final 6-3 and 6-2) would have to remain in the Top 10 until the last week of October of…, 2039. The Murcian, who became one of the ten best rackets in April 2022, he had not turned two years old when Nadal rose as one of the best ten on tour.

After the Monte Carlo tournament, Nadal plans to perform at the ATP 500 in Barcelona (17/4), at the Masters 1000 in Madrid (26/4) and Rome (10/5), and at Roland Garros (28/5). , he major that he will seek to obtain for the fifteenth time to, in addition, tie the extraordinary number of major titles in singles with the Serbian Novak Djokovic (the Serbian reached 22 trophies at the last Australian Open). For days the Matador has been broadcasting images of his training on the brick dust of his academy, in Manacor. Competition and time will tell how much fuel it has left. Of course, nothing, not even the loss of the ranking -no matter how unusual it may seem-, will overshadow his legend.

Argentines in the ATP and WTA ranking

Francisco Cerúndolo (31st) continues to be the best Argentine in the ATP ranking. They are followed, in the Top 100, by Sebastián Báez (33°; +2), Diego Schwartzman (38°), Pedro Cachin (63°; +3), Federico Coria (67°; -3), Tomás Etcheverry (73° ; -12) and Facundo Bagnis (100°; -4). In addition, Facundo Díaz Acosta (22 years old) reached his best position (163 °, +9).

Among the women, Nadia Podoroska ranks 107th (+1) and is followed by Lourdes Carlé (153rd), Paula Ormaechea (168th; +6), Julia Riera (263rd; +3), Solana Sierra (357th; + 6) and Martina Capurro Taborda (377°; +23).