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  • Ranking race tightens beween Federer and Nadal

    7/15/08 5:01 PM | Johan Lindahl
    Ranking race tightens beween Federer and Nadal This week is the calm before the storm prior to a resumption of the rankings battle Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the wake of this month's stunning Wimbledon final.

    With his four-hour, 48-minute victory, Nadal increased his grip on the No. 2 ranking behind the Swiss, pulling to a relatively thin margin of 545 points.

    Continued progress from Nadal and any lapse by Federer could mean a change at the top for the first time since February, 2004.

    But the pressure remains strong on both men with a run of back-to-back Masters Series events starting on Monday at Toronto followed directly by Cincinnati, where Federer is defending the title and Nadal fell in his opening match to Juan Monaco.

    Stakes are also high immediately afterwards at the Beijing Games, with the Olympics and the US open now top targets for Federer, still without a Grand Slam title this season.

    The Swiss has been atop the table for 233 weeks while Nadal has trailed as faithful second fiddle for 156 weeks.

    And the eager Nadal, now with an asteroid named after him by grateful astrommers on his home of Mallorca, could start shaking up the established order as early as next month with a standout showing at the Games.

    “The Olympics are special, I always watched them on TV when I was young”, said the 22-year-old, playing Olympic singles for the first time when he travels to China.

    Nadal said his motivation to win a medal will be the same as it is when he plays Davis Cup for Spain. “I have the same big motivation”.

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