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ATP Race Rankings: 24th August, Federer almost qualifies

By Geoff Nichols

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ATP Race Rankings: 24th August, Federer almost qualifies

Roger Federer has risen to third in the latest ATP Race Rankings after he stormed to the Cincinnati Masters title. He showed the benefit of coming in fresh, eventually beating the world number two and world number one in consecutive matches, the first time in his career he has achieved this feat.

The fact that both were in straight sets makes the achievement even more impressive and the Swiss legend is rewarded with closing in on ATP World Tour Finals qualification. Currently the mark lies at 5,595 points, with Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray having already assured their places.

Murray was the winner of the US Open series, which is essentially a mini Race for the North American hard court events leading up the the US Open itself. The main consequence of this is the potential for a bigger prize pot in New York, although you would imagine the Brit would take the title for nothing if you offered it to him.

For a full run through of how the Race rankings are calculated and how they differ from the official ATP rankings, see here.

Race Rankings – 1 to 10

PlacePlayerNationPoints
 1Novak DjokovicSRB10785
 2Andy MurrayGBR7190
 3Roger FedererSUI5525
 4Stan WawrinkaSUI4780
 5Kei NishikoriJPN3755
 6Tomas BerdychCZE3670
 7Rafael NadalESP3625
 8David FerrerESP2915
 9John IsnerUSA2000
 10Richard GasquetFRA1950

Rafael Nadal may be desperately struggling for form at the moment, but he is still clinging on to his place in the Top 8. I think he will look to qualify for the World Tour Finals and then put this year behind him, just like Murray did in 2014.

John Isner is knocking on the door of the Top 8, which is certainly not something many would have expected at the start of the year. He and Richard Gasquet are at the peak of the powers in 2015 and any withdrawal from the season ending event in London will present them with a great opportunity.

Heading into the US Open, the last major of the year, the year end positions of Berdych, Nishikori and Nadal will go a long way to being settled. All have peaked at different points, with Nishikori arguably in the best form out of the trio and was a finalist last year.

Race Rankings – 11 to 20

PlacePlayerNationPoints
 11Gilles SimonFRA1760
 12Milos RaonicCAN1740
 13Kevin AndersonRSA1615
 14Gael MonfilsFRA1400
 15David GoffinBEL1395
 16Dominic ThiemAUT1330
 17Bernard TomicAUS1295
 18Ivo KarlovicCRO1295
 19Jo Wilfried TsongaFRA1270
 20Viktor TroickiSRB1262

Grigor Dimitrov has crept into the Top 20 once again and those who saw his performance in Cincinnati against Murray will be heartened by the form he showed. You would expect him to continue to rise as the year comes to and end.

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After conquering Nadal, Feliciano Lopez is still outside the Top 20, which is down to how much his game hinges on his first serve. Jo Wilfried Tsonga, who is clearly not at his best this year, has breached the Top 20, whilst Victor Troicki is rapidly heading in the wrong direction.

Dominic Thiem’s lofty position in the ATP Race surely tells you all you need to know about his future prospects on the tour. The next player under 21 years of age in the Race is Nick Kyrgios at 30th place, followed by Borna Coric at 52nd. another star of the future on current evidence.

Next: Wimbledon 2015: Top 5 Upsets in Men's Draw

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