‘Rafa is going to be the guy’ - Eurosport expert John McEnroe backs Rafael Nadal to top the next world rankings

Updated 05/09/2022 at 16:10 GMT

Eurosport tennis expert John McEnroe “can’t believe” Rafael Nadal won’t be guaranteed the world No. 1 spot and has backed the 22-time Grand Slam champion to top the ATP rankings this next time round. Nadal has won two major tournaments so far this year and as he continues to progress at the US Open, McEnroe thinks the Spaniard will be “the guy” to top the rankings.

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Rafael Nadal has been tipped to become the new world No. 1 by Eurosport tennis expert John McEnroe, who “can’t believe” the 22-time Grand Slam winner is not guaranteed top spot in the ATP rankings.

Current world No. 3 Nadal comfortably dismantled Frenchman Richard Gasquet on Sunday night as he progressed to the last 16, whilst top-ranked Daniil Medvedev was eliminated following a loss to Nick Krygios.

Ahead of Nadal’s fourth round match against Frances Tiafoe, McEnroe has expressed disbelief that the Spaniard isn’t guaranteed a place as world No. 1 in the next rankings update.

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“I think Rafa [Nadal] is going to be the guy,” McEnroe claimed. “I don’t know how it plays out and if he’ll play much the rest of the year but look at it - he’s won Australia, he’s won the French, he got to the semis at Wimbledon.

“The guy is heads and tails, I can believe that he won't be guaranteed No. 1 already.”

Teenager Carlos Alcaraz, and Norwegian rising star Casper Ruud have been in the spotlight this year, both players tipped by McEnroe to threaten Nadal for a space at the top of the rankings, but admitted either player leapfrogging Nadal would be “beyond belief”.

“Shows you how well [Carlos] Alcaraz and [Casper] Ruud, who got to the French Open final, [have been playing],” McEnroe said. “That would truly be remarkable, I must say.

“Alcaraz is one thing - he’s stepped it up so big. I mean God! He’s only 19. So if either one of those guys hits No. 1 it will be beyond belief.”

Ruud was beaten convincingly by Nadal in the French Open final, whilst Alcaraz became the youngest player to crack the top five rankings since Nadal himself achieved the feat in 2005.

As things stand, Medvedev leads the rankings with German Alexander Zverev sandwiched in between the Russian and third place Nadal, whilst Alcaraz has reached a career-high fourth place.

Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas wraps up the top five, Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic is in sixth and Ruud is currently settled in seventh.

The official ATP rankings are updated weekly on Mondays.

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