For 215 weeks, Roger Federer has been Nš1 of the ATP ranking and none of the other players has been able to dethrone the Swiss since he achieved this privileged place in February 2004. Rafael Nadal has been the only runner up for the last 138 weeks, since 25 July 2005, when the Manacorí reached the second position in the ranking.

Back in 2005, Nadal was 3,040 points away from Federer. This week, he managed to reduce the gap to only 350, the closer they have ever been. However, there is no immediate reason for the Swiss player to get nervous since the next tournament and first of the Masters Series is Indian Wells, in which Nadal cannot earn points but defend the 500 he won last year.

After Indian Wells, the two players are expected to meet at the Masters Series in Miami. In 2007, Federer obtained only 75 points in this tournament while Nadal reached the round of eight and took home 125 points. If things go well for both of them this year, the players will have a chance to increase or reduce the distance between them.

After the hard courts in Indian Wells and Miami comes the Davis Coup and then the clay courts on which Nadal will defend his Montecarlo, Godó, Roma and Roland Garros titles.

Source: Article originally published in MediaGambling