Nadal stays atop ATP rankings, Federer aims to overtake

Madrid Feb 12 (IANS) Rafael Nadal continued to hold the top spot in the men s Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world singles rankings released on Monday while Switzerland s Roger Federer maintained a close second with a chance to overtake the injured Spaniard.

To dethrone Nadal and reclaim the lead for the first time since October 2012 Federer will need to reach the semi-finals in the Rotterdam Open this week from which Nadal has been absent while recovering from leg surgery reports Efe.

Federer a 20-time Grand Slam champion closed to within 155 points of Nadal after his win last month at the Australian Open against world No. 3 Marin Cilic of Croatia.

Alexander Zverev of Germany jumped to fourth place ahead of Bulgaria s Grigor Dimitrov while Spain s Pablo Carreno-Busta maintained his hold on 10th place continuing to keep South Africa s Kevin Anderson out of the top 10.

The current ATP rankings and point scores are as follows:

1. Rafael Nadal (Spain) 9 760 points
2. Roger Federer (Switzerland) 9 605
3. Marin Cilic (Croatia) 4 960
4. Alexander Zverev (Germany) 4 450
5. Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) 4 425
6. Dominic Thiem (Austria) 4 060
7. David Goffin (Belgium) 3 400
8. Jack Sock (United States) 2 880
9. Juan Martin del Potro (Argentina) 2 815
10. Pablo Carreno-Busta (Spain) 2 705

--IANS
pur/mr