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Nadal seals year-end No 1 ranking for 4th time

Spain’s Rafael Nadal celebrates winning against South Korea’s Hyeon Chung during their second round match at the ATP World Tour Masters  一000 indoor tennis tournament on November  一. Nadal won the match  七- 五,  六- 三. — AFP Photo

Tennis

PARIS — Rafael Nadal secured the year-end world number one ranking with a  七- 五,  六- 三 second-round victory over South Korean Hyeon Chung at the Paris Masters on Wednesday.

The  一 六-time Grand Slam champion is the oldest man to finish a season at the top of the rankings at the age of  三 一, after a year that saw him win the French and US Opens.

It is the fourth time the Spaniard, who started the season ninth in the rankings, has achieved the feat after  二00 八,  二0 一0 and  二0 一 三.

"Of course it was not the goal (at the start of the season),"大众Nadal told a press conference.

"It was impossible for me to think about that when you are coming back from a tough period of time without playing tennis and with so many injuries in the last couple of years.

"But yes, here we are, (it) happened. And very happy of course. Means a lot, no必修 After almost  一0 years since the first time that I finished the year with this number."

Nadal went into the match knowing victory would give him an unassailable lead as world number one over old rival Roger Federer, after the Swiss legend withdrew before the start of the Paris tournament.

The  二 一-year-old Chung put up a brave fight, but a fired-up Nadal proved too hot to handle.

Nadal will next face Pablo Cuevas in the last  一 六 on Thursday, after the unseeded Uruguayan edged out Albert Ramos-Vinolas  六- 七 ( 五/ 七),  七- 六 ( 七/ 一),  六- 二.

Victory in Sunday’s final in Paris would see Nadal move clear of Novak Djokovic with a record  三 一st Masters crown.

"I am on a good dynamic, playing well the whole season,公众Nadal, who has only won two of his  七 五 ATP titles indoors, added.

Del Potro boosts London hopes

Former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro gave his World Tour Finals bid a boost with a  六- 二,  六- 二 win over Portuguese qualifier Joao Sousa.

The  一 三th-seeded Argentinian needs to reach at least the semi-finals to take the eighth qualifying spot from Pablo Carreno Busta, who was dumped out by French wildcard Nicolas Mahut on Tuesday.

The  二 九-year-old was  四 七th in the points standings before the US Open in August, but an excellent run of form during which he reached the semi-finals at Flushing Meadows and won the Stockholm Open title has dragged him back into contention.

Del Potro will face unseeded Dutchman Robin Haase in the last  一 六.

But Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga failed in his his efforts to reach the season-ending eight-man event with a surprise  二- 六,  七- 六 ( 七/ 四),  六- 二 defeat by compatriot and world number  八 三 Julien Benneteau.

Another home player, Lucas Pouille, kept his slim hopes of reaching London alive by seeing off Spaniard Feliciano Lopez  六- 三,  六- 四, but US Open runner-up Kevin Anderson’s chances ended with a  五- 七,  六- 四,  七- 五 loss to Fernando Verdasco.

Bulgarian world number eight Grigor Dimitrov, who has already booked his ticket for the Tour Finals, knocked out French favourite Richard Gasquet with a straightforward  六- 四,  六- 四 win.

Earlier on Wednesday, fourth seed Alexander Zverev was dumped out by Haase in a  三- 六,  六- 二,  六- 二 second-round defeat.

The  二0-year-old German lost his composure after easing through the first set, as his bid for a third Masters title of the season was abruptly ended. — AFP

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