Cincinnati Masters: How Rafael Nadal can return to world No. 1 for first time since 2020 ahead of US Open

Rafael Nadal will play for the first time since he pulled out of Wimbledon at the Cincinnati Masters this week, with the chance of becoming world No. 1. Nadal withdrew from last week’s Canadian Open in Montreal due to discomfort whilst training but will be back on the tennis court in Cincinnati on Wednesday.

Ad Despite not playing for over a month, Nadal has a chance to return to the top of the ATP rankings, which is currently held by Daniil Medvedev. ATP Montreal'I'm missing home' — Tired Kyrgios downs 'hell of a player' De Minaur in Montreal12/08/2022 AT 06:34 Medvedev enters the tournament on 6,885 points, with Nadal 1,265 points behind. However, the Russian will be defending 360 points, because he made the semi-finals of the Cincinnati Masters last year, whilst Nadal won’t lose anything since he didn’t play in the second half of last season.

It means Medvedev will need to win two matches to ensure he keeps his status as world No. 1. For Nadal to usurp his rival, he will need to win the tournament, which would give him 1,000 points, and hope Medvedev fails to reach the quarter-finals.

Medvedev’s second round loss to Nick Kyrgios in Montreal has given Nadal an opportunity to head the ATP rankings for the first time since February 2020. Nadal set to return to US Open Nadal, who has spent 209 weeks as world No. 1, hasn’t played at Flushing Meadows since he lifted the trophy in 2019 but that is set to change in two weeks’ time.

He withdrew from the event in 2020 due to Covid-19 concerns and an injury to his foot forced him to pull out last year. Outside of his phenomenal record at the French Open, the US Open has been Nadal’s next most successful Grand Slam as he’s won in New York on four occasions. Even if he fails to