Novak Djokovic, Naomi Osaka stay on top of tennis rankings

Paris: Novak Djokovic tightened his grip on the ATP tennis rankings on Monday following his win in the Madrid Open. The Serbian world number one widened his lead over Spaniard Rafael Nadal who was dumped out of the Madrid tournament by young gun Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in the semi-finals.

Tsitsipas lost the final to Djokovic but eased two places up the rankings to seventh on the strength of his recent show of form.

Dominic Thiem of Austria, winner of the Barcelona Open, moved into fourth place after his elimination from the Madrid semi-finals. He is one sport behind Roger Federer, his quarter-final victim in Madrid.

Japan’s Naomi Osaka continued to top the women’s tennis rankings after Simona Halep lost in the Madrid Open. Osaka has 6,356 points ahead of Romania’s Halep with 6,117 points.

German player Angelique Kerber is in third place, while Dutch player Kiki Bertens climbed from seventh to a career-high fourth position after beating Halep on Saturday in the Madrid Open.