The ATP Rankings are in as the 2013 U.S. Tennis Open is less than a week away. The games begin on Monday, Aug. 26 and the seedings will be set on Thursday, Aug. 22. Though we don't know the seeds of each player in the Men's Singles tournament, check out the rankings heading into the final grand slam of the tennis season.
Factoring into the rankings is Rafael Nadal's dominance since his return to tennis, Roger Federer's struggles as he finds the right racket head size to play with and David Ferrer's emergence as a Top 4 player.
Despite his struggles, Nadal has moved his way up the charts after winning in Cincinnati and Canada at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000. This is coming off a disappointing exit from Wimbledon where he was bounced in the first round of the tournament. However, Nadal captured his eighth title at Roland Garros. He's now a career eight of nine at the French Open. Nadal will be looking for another Finals appearance at the U.S. Open. He was the 2011 runner-up and the winner in 2010.
Federer is aging, it's not a secret. He's still the generation's best tennis player, though he's only won one title in his last 14 majors. Federer has decided to return to a 90" head sized racket after experimenting with a 95" head. Federer's absence in the latter stages of grand slam tournaments is a reason why Ferrer has risen out of the ashes. Men's singles tennis belongs to Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Nadal and Federer, but Ferrer is placing his name within tennis' top dogs. He's made seven consecutive quarterfinal appearances. He was a semifinalist at the 2013 Australian Open and the runner-up at the 2013 French Open.
There's no need to mention Murray's success. He's been on a finals streak every since making it to the championship round against Federer in 2012 at the All English Club. He's played finals at Wimbledon twice, the U.S. Open and the Australian Open. Will he be able to defend is U.S. Open title? We will have to wait for the tournament to begin.
Here are the ATP Rankings:
1) Novak Djokovic- 10,980
2) Rafael Nadal- 8,860
3) Andy Murray- 8,700
4) David Ferrer- 7,210
5) Tomas Berdych- 5,135
6) Juan Martin Del Potro- 4,740
7) Roger Federer- 4,695
8) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga- 3,470
9) Richard Gasquet- 2,625
10) Stanislas Wawrinka- 2,610