London - Rafael Nadal will become the first Spaniard to
finish the ATP season on on number one despite a semi-final loss at
the Madrid Masters.
The reigning Roland Garros, Wimbledon and Olympic champion ended
the five-year reign of Roger Federer, first earning the top spot in
August.
Federer's semi-final loss to Andy Murray on Saturday in Madrid
guaranteed Nadal the leading position.
The 22-year-old Mallorca native is the first left-hander to finish
No. 1 since John McEnroe in 1984 and the third in the 36-year history
of the ATP rankings. McEnroe was number one from 1981-84 and Jimmy
Connors from 1974-78.
Nadal becomes the 15th different year-end number one after
finishing runner-up to Federer for the last two years and holding
number two for a record 160 consecutive weeks (since July 25, 2005).
Federer held the top position for a record 237 straight weeks from
Feb. 2, 2004 to Aug. 17, 2008.
'To become number one during the year was one of my goals and it
is important to have achieved it,' said Nadal, who will end his
regular season by playing at the Paris Masters before travelling to
Shanghai for the year-end Masters Cup.
'I'm very happy to bring something more to Spanish sport,
something for Spanish history and for our great tennis tradition.'
Nadal leads the ATP circuit with eight titles and an 80-10 match
record in 2008. In July, he became the first man since Bjorn Borg in
1980 to win the Roland Garros and Wimbledon double after dethroning
five-time champion Federer in a five-set epic at the All England
Club.
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Year-end number one players (since 1973)
2008 Rafael Nadal Spain
2004-2007 Roger Federer Switzerland
2003 Andy Roddick US
2001-2002 Lleyton Hewitt Australia
2000 Gustavo Kuerten Brazil
1999 Andre Agassi US
1993-1998 Pete Sampras US
1992 Jim Courier US
1990-1991 Stefan Edberg Sweden
1989 Ivan Lendl Czech Republic
1988 Mats Wilander Sweden
1985-87 Ivan Lendl Czech Republic
1981-1984 John McEnroe US
1979-1980 Bjorn Borg Sweden
1974-1978 Jimmy Connors US
1973 Ilie Nastase Romania
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USA
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