Battle For No. 1

“At the beginning of the season, of course my goal was not to be No. 1 again.”

How quickly things have changed for Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard arrives in Cincinnati this week knowing that lifting his 37th ATP Masters 1000 crown at the Western & Southern Open, combined with Daniil Medvedev failing to reach the quarter-finals, would see him return to No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time since January 2020.

“If that happens, then it is amazing of course,” said Nadal, who returns to action for the first time since early July after an abdominal issue. “It means a lot to me to have that opportunity, something that I probably never expected was going to happen again.”

Nadal can also this week become the first player to qualify for November's Nitto ATP Finals, if he reaches the semi-finals in Cincinnati. For Medvedev, two wins will be enough to consolidate his No. 1 status until at least the end of the US Open. Yet the top seed knows he cannot afford any lapses. “I feel that the draw is very, very packed,” said Medvedev, who triumphed in Cincinnati in 2019. “When I look at it, I’m like ‘Wow, every match we have, even in the first round, is a tough match.’” Pablo Carreno Busta gave a stark reminder of that strength-in-depth on Sunday in Montreal, where the Spaniard became the third first-time Masters 1000 champion of the season at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers. "It's an amazing feeling," said Carreno Busta, who dug deep for a three-set final win against Hubert Hurkacz. "I [have] worked very hard all my career to finally be here."