Rafael Nadal was injured at Roland Garros and was forced to sit out a number of major tournaments in the first months of the year. These career endings brought with them the end of the historical record for the great champion of Iberia.

Rafael Nadal will leave the ATP top 10 after 18 years

Rafael Nadal entered the ATP top 10 for the first time on April 25, 2005 and spent 910 consecutive weeks in the elite of men’s tennis.

The Iberian suffered an iliopsoas muscle injury and was unable to defend the points gained at the start of 2022, when he won 20 in a row (the best start to a season in the Iberian’s career).

So this week, Rafa lost 500 points because he couldn’t compete in the tournament in Acapulco (which he won last year), and next week he will be without the 600 points earned in 2022 at Indian Wells (he lost in the final by Taylor Fritz).

Nadal, currently ranked 8th in the ATP rankings, could be overtaken this week by Holger Rune (if the Dane beats Matteo Berrettini in the ATP quarterfinals in Acapulco) and Hubert Gurkach (if the Pole reaches the ATP finals in Dubai – he will play Novak in the quarters Djokovic).

Rafael Nadal has spent half his life in the ATP top 10

Punto De Break journalists talk about how impressive the record of the Iberian is.

“Rafael Nadal was in the top 10 for 18 years in a row. Is it worth talking about the size of this performance? Perfect: this is practically half of his life. Let’s rephrase: Rafael Nadal spent half of his life among the top ten tennis players in the world.

During that time, he won 22 Grand Slams and became one of the greatest sports legends in history… but think about it: what man can boast of being in the top 10 in his field for half his life without leaving that privilege on the list even on day? It’s really hard to process. No matter how much you say it out loud” – Punto De Break.

Even if he falls out of the Top 10 after Indian Wells, Rafa could quickly climb the rankings given his favorite clay court season is approaching, where he will have just 270 points to defend before Roland Garros (he missed the Monte -Carlo and Barcelona, ​​as well as early departure from Madrid and Rome).

ATP ranking in real time

1. Novak Djokovic 7070 points

2. Carlos Alcaraz 6780

3. Stefanos Tsitsipas 5805

4. Casper Ruud 5560

5. Taylor Fritz 3705

6. Andriy Rublev 3450

7. Daniil Medvedev 3365

8. Rafael Nadal 3315

9. Felix Auger-Aliassime 3245

10. Holger Rune 3231 / 3321 if he reaches the semi-finals in Acapulco

11. Hubert Hurkacz 3110 / 3320 if he reaches the final in Dubai.