Rafael Nadal halts 18-year top 10 men’s tennis ranking streak

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

For the first time in 18 years, the name Rafael Nadal failed to make it into the top 10 world ranking of the best male tennis players in the world.

The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) recently released its newest men’s top 10 rankings last March 21, 2023, with teenage tennis sensation Carlos Alcaraz hailed as the no. 1 male player in the world with 7,420 points.

Meanwhile, Nadal, who began his streak of top 10 men’s ranking qualification in 2005, dropped to world no. 13 with only 2,715 points.

This is the lowest rank the 22-time Grand Slam champion received in 18 straight years and still holds the record of being a top 10 player for 912 consecutive weeks.

During the past press conferences, Nadal wasn’t expecting too much about his future in the sport after injuries started to derail his plans of joining the previous major tournaments.

The Spanish legend is yet to make a comeback on the Grand Slam stage since injuring his hip flexor during the last edition of the Australian Open.

Nadal initially eyed returning to the Dubai Tennis Championships but due to his preferences, the 36-year-old superstar chose to wait a bit and revealed that he will be waiting for a clay court major tennis competition.

The clay court became his go-to surface since turning professional at a very young age, proof is his 36 championship titles from major tournaments and 14 coming from the French Open.

It is also the surface where Nadal set the record of 81 consecutive victories, the longest streak ever in men’s tennis history.

If Nadal will be able to come back healthy again and play injury-free this 2023, he will have the chance to break the deadlock between him and his rival Novak Djokovic for the most Grand Slam titles won in the men’s category and re-insert himself in the top 10.