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Rafael Nadal one win away from year-end world No. 1 ranking

By Harry Floyd

SHANGHAI, CHINA - OCTOBER 15: Rafael Nadal of Spain speak during the award ceremony after losing his Men's singles final match against Roger Federer of Switzerland on day eight of 2017 ATP Shanghai Rolex Masters at Qizhong Stadium on October 15, 2017 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
SHANGHAI, CHINA - OCTOBER 15: Rafael Nadal of Spain speak during the award ceremony after losing his Men's singles final match against Roger Federer of Switzerland on day eight of 2017 ATP Shanghai Rolex Masters at Qizhong Stadium on October 15, 2017 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images) /
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Rafael Nadal is one match away from ending the year at No. 1. Roger Federer withdraws from Paris, providing the Spanish superstar a chance at the ranking.

Rafael Nadal and others expected a showdown for No. 1 at the 2017 Paris Masters.

After winning his eighth title at the Swiss Indoors, however, Roger Federer has withdrawn from the ATP World Tour event in order to rest up for London. Now, Nadal needs just one win in Paris in order to secure the world No. 1 ranking.

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Nadal squares off against Hyeon Chung of South Korea. The young South Korean tennis player flew past Mischa Zverev in his opening round match. He defeats the German veteran in straight sets, winning 6-0, 6-2.

A win against Hyeon Chung would solidify Rafael Nadal as the year-end world No. 1 in men’s singles tennis.

Throughout their careers, Nadal is 1-0 against the 21-year-old South Korean. They faced each other earlier this year in Barcelona where Nadal took the match in straight sets.

The young South Korean did force a first set tiebreak before dropping the second set 6-2 in favor of Nadal. Now that one single match means even more to Rafael Nadal, there is no doubt that the Spanish superstar will look to lock himself in as the world No. 1 on the ATP World Tour.

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As for Federer, the move to withdraw from Paris makes sense. The 36-year-old Swiss superstar has seen success on the 2017 ATP World Tour due to his strategic scheduling. With two Grand Slam wins and several ATP singles titles, the current world No. 2 will rest and recover so that he can attempt a seventh ATP Finals title in London.

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Nadal is yet to win a title at the end of year finals. Securing the world No. 1 ranking would help to provide him some momentum going into play at the O2 Arena. His match with Chung, who is the current world No. 55 in men’s singles tennis, takes place on Tuesday at the Paris Masters. Several other players are also competing for the final spots in the Race to London this week in Paris. Look for some thrilling tennis down the stretch and check back to see how Rafael Nadal fares in his bid for the year-end No. 1 ranking.

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