London: Serbian tennis ace Novak Djokovic is all set to attain the top position in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) rankings after a gap of almost two years.
The 31-year-old, who is going to be the world number one on November 5, will become the first player to reach the top position after being ranked outside the Top 20 in the same season since Russia’s Marat Safin who achieved the same in the year 2000.
The development comes after current world number one Rafael Nadal pulled out of the ongoing Paris Maters owing to an abdominal injury.
Giving details about the injury, Nadal said that he was completely fine while training for the competition before he realised about the injury. The doctors recommended me not to play as the same can lead to further damage, he continued.
“It was great to be here in Paris for a couple of days and practise with the guys. I enjoyed it [and] I felt in terms of tennis better than one week ago. But in the past few days, I started to feel a little bit [of an] abdominal [injury], especially when I was serving,” ATP quoted Nadal, as saying.
“I checked with the doctor and he said that he recommended to not play because if I continued the abdominal may break and could become a major thing. And I really don’t want that,” he added.
Earlier, the Spaniard had to withdraw from the semi-final of the 2018 US Open due to a knee injury.
Meanwhile, Djokovic will kickstart his campaign at the Paris Masters against Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia, later today.
[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]