Rafael Nadal returns to world No. 1 ranking

Madrid [Spain], Apr. 02 (ANI): Tennis ace Rafael Nadal on Monday returned to his lost number one spot in men's professional tennis.

The Spaniard will now begin his 168th week as world No. 1.

Nadal lost his top spot to his long-term rival Roger Federer when the latter defeated his Dutch opponent Robin Haase at Rotterdam Open to become the oldest world No. 1.

The 16-time grand slam champion first ascended to the top spot nine-and-a-half years ago on August 18, 2008. Also, he has never lost his place in top 10 since April 2005.

The 31-year-old has spent four previous stints at No. 1 - 46 weeks between August 18, 2008 and July 5, 2009, 56 weeks from June 7, 2010 to July 3, 2011, 39 weeks between October 7, 2013 and July 6, 2014 and 26 weeks from August 21, 2017 to February 18, 2018.

Only Federer (309), Pete Sampras (286), Ivan Lendl (270), Jimmy Connors (268), Novak Djokovic (223) and McEnroe (170) have spent more weeks than Nadal at No. 1 since August 1973. (ANI)

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