Roger Federer will return to world number two and will surprass Rafael Nadal for the ranking once the numbers are updated on Monday, October 13. Nadal lost significant ranking points this week after losing his second round match to Feliciano Lopez. Federer, on the other hand, narrowly won his second round match and is currently in the semifinals and will face defending champion Novak Djokovic for a place in the final.
Nadal, who’s diagnosed with appendicitis, said that he plans to undergo surgery once the season ends and plans to play in Basel, Paris and London.
“I talked to my doctor in Spain, and there is a lot of risk when it has already happened to you once,” Nadal said. “My answer today, honestly, is that I’m going to do it after the World Tour Finals. You never know, depends on how things improve.”
“If it is now under control, it is obvious that [it] will come back, and I do not want to come back and be the same again when you arrive in Australia, in Indian Wells, or Miami, or Roland Garros, and I’m going to do before the end of the year,” he said.
When asked about the ranking improvement, Federer said: “It’s good news. Better moving up than down. Nothing more than that. Clearly I want to move up, play well. Others not playing so well. Clearly Rafa hasn’t played for some time—take advantage of that. Plus I didn’t win a Slam this year, so it shows even more so how consistent I’ve actually played and how much I played this year, so I guess I deserve it from that standpoint.”
