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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 4:02 a.m., Monday, July 7, 2008

Tennis: Nadal closes in on Federer in rankings

Associated Press

WIMBLEDON, England — Rafael Nadal's epic victory over Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final allowed him to significantly narrow the gap at the top of the ATP rankings.

Federer remains at No. 1 for a record 232nd consecutive week, and Nadal stays at No. 2 for a record 155th week in a row.

But Federer's lead fell from 1,145 points — 6,900 to 5,755 — entering the grass-court Grand Slam tournament to 545 points — 6,600 to 6,055 — in Monday's new rankings.

Nadal beat Federer 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (8), 9-7 on Sunday night in a rain-interrupted match with 4 hours, 48 minutes of action — the longest men's championship match in the history of Wimbledon, a tournament that began in 1877.

Novak Djokovic held on to his No. 3 ranking, despite being upset in the second round. David Ferrer moved up from No. 5 to No. 4, swapping places with Nikolay Davydenko, who lost in the first round.

Andy Roddick, David Nalbandian and James Blake stayed in Nos. 6-8, while Andy Murray moved back into the top 10, rising two spots to No. 9, by reaching his first Wimbledon quarterfinal. Stanislas Wawrinka is 10th.

In the WTA rankings, Wimbledon champion Venus Williams stayed at No. 7 after successfully defending her title. Her younger sister, Serena, who lost to Venus in the final, rose one spot to No. 5.

French Open champion Ana Ivanovic kept her No. 1 ranking, even though she lost in the third round at the All England Club, but Maria Sharapova slid from No. 2 to No. 3 after being knocked out in the second round.

Jelena Jankovic moved to No. 2, and Svetlana Kuznetsova stayed at No. 4.

Elena Dementieva dropped a spot to No. 6, followed by Venus Williams, Anna Chakvetadze, French Open runner-up Dinara Safina and Agnieszka Radwanska, who moved into the top 10 for the first time.