Rafael Nadal marked an historic changing of the guard in tennis with a quarter-final win at the Cincinnati Masters on Friday, ensuring Roger Federer will fall from the summit after more than four years.
The patient Spaniard, who has chased the Swiss for three seasons in a good-natured rivalry, guaranteed he will claim the world No. 1 ranking this month with a 7-6 (7/3), 6-1 victory over Ecuador’s Nicolas Lapentti.
By reaching the semi-finals, Nadal is assured of overtaking Federer on Aug. 18 at the latest.
If he can carry on to claim the title today he can claim No. 1 on Monday, with the Beijing Olympic tennis competition due to start six days later.
Federer has held the world No. 1 ranking for more than four years — his reign so far lasting 235 straight weeks.
But his hopes of holding off Nadal faded with his third-round loss to Croatian Ivo Karlovic.
“I’m so happy to be getting No. 1,” said Nadal, the winner of 30 career titles including five Grand Slams. “I fought hard to get here. I was also happy to be No. 2, I won a lot of matches. It’s been tough, I have a lot of matches on my back. The conditions are tough here. It’s been tough to play well after winning Toronto last week.”
Nadal will become the 24th player in the history of the ATP Rankings to hold the No. 1 position and the third Spaniard to accomplish the feat, joining Carlos Moya (1999) and Juan Carlos Ferrero (2003).
He faces a semi-final challenge against third-seeded Novak Djokovic, after the Serb defeated former tennis school friend Ernests Gulbis 6-3, 6-4.
“I’ll have to play better than tonight, I need to play my best-ever match at Cincinnati,” Nadal said.
Djokovic shelved any sentiment as he dispatched Gulbis to reach his fifth Masters Series semi-final.
The young pair — at 21, Djokovic is two years older than Gulbis — spent time at the Niki Pilic academy in Munich and fondly remember their tearaway teenage years.
Djokovic rode one break per set to improve his record over Gulbis to 2-0.
At the top of the draw, Andy Murray beat Carlos Moya 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 to complete a spirited fightback.
The eighth-seeded Scot will test his confidence against the mighty serve of Karlovic, who notched 24 aces in his 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/3) win over German Philipp Kohlschreiber.
■ROGERS CUP
AFP, MONTREAL
Serbian Jelena Jankovic’s latest bid to grab the world No. 1 ranking ended on Friday with a quarter-final exit from the Rogers Cup.
Unseeded Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova continued her impressive run this week with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over the world No. 2 and second seed. Jankovic missed out on a chance to overtake compatriot Ana Ivanovic atop the rankings when she lost in the semi-finals in Los Angeles. Once Ivanovic lost here on Thursday, Jankovic could have accomplished the feat by reaching the final. She made a good start, winning the first four games and taking a 5-1 lead in the opening set, but she could not keep up the momentum.
Jankovic has squandered chances to seize the No.1 ranking in four straight tournaments. Prior to Los Angeles, Jankovic could have moved up by reaching the final at the French Open or the semi-finals at Wimbledon.
Cibulkova booked a semi-final clash with France’s Marion Bartoli, who defeated Japan’s Ai Sugiyama 6-2, 6-3.
The 19-year-old Slovakian is enjoying a fine tournament. Ranked 31st in the world, she has beaten fifth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva and Russian Nadia Petrova as she pursues her first WTA tour title.
On the other side of the draw, seventh-seeded Dinara Safina overcame 12 double-faults to upend fourth-seeded fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
In the semis Safina will face Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, a 6-4, 7-5 winner over unseeded 17-year-old Tamira Paszek of Austria.
■NORDIC LIGHT OPEN
AP, STOCKHOLM
Defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska advanced to the semi-finals of the Nordic Light Open on Friday when Camille Pin retired in the second set.
The Pole led 6-2, 1-0 when Pin gave up because of stomach problems.
Radwanska will play fourth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in the semis. Wozniacki ousted fifth-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain 6-1, 6-3 in the final quarter-final.
Third-seeded Katarina Srebotnik of the Czech Republic and last year’s finalist Vera Dushevina of Russia also had straight-set wins and will meet in the other semi-final.
Srebotnik, ranked 29th, downed Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain 6-2, 6-0 and Dushevina beat Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-3.
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