A surprise quarterfinal loss at the Monte Carlo Masters last week saw Rafael Nadal loosening the grip on the world number one ranking. He’ll be facing a tough road ahead as he’ll be defending a lot of ranking points versus rival, number two Novak Djokovic.
Last year, Nadal stormed through the claycourt season which saw him accumulating 5,100 points which he will be defending in the next few weeks. Meanwhile, Djokovic earned 1,910 during that stretch. This means that failure to defend lucrative ranking points would mean that we may have a new world number one by the end of the Roland Garros touranment.
Last year, Nadal won Barcelona, Madrid Masters, Rome Masters and the French Open. Djokovic won Monte Carlo Masters, reached second round Madrid Masters, Rome Masters quarterfinals and French Open semifinals.
Djokovic lost points as well for not defending the Monte Carlo Masters (he lost in the semifinals to Roger Federer) but he can make up for the points in Madrid and Rome.
“Normally… I’m playing with no mistakes,” said Nadal. “This is something I was not able to do. [Ferrer] did much better than me.
“I am not happy with [my game]. I feel that I have to do more than what I did today,” reflected Nadal about his third loss at the Monte-Carlo Country Club.
Djokovic is making a strong case in returning at the top of the rankigns after winning back to back Masters 1000 titles in Indian Wells and Miami last month.
