The news Rafael Nadal had to pull out of Toronto and Montreal might have made life tough for Nadal fans and tennis in general, but it made one task of tennis life much easier for Novak Djokovic-the task of staying at No.1 on the ATP Rankings and finishing the year at the top.
It was Rafael Nadal who took the No.1 ranking from Djokovic on Oct.6 last year, and who beat him in Montreal and in the U.S Open final on Djokovic’s best surface, hard courts.
Nadal, the defending Canadian Open and Cincinnati champion, had 2000 points to defend this series. With 12670 points and in second place on the ATP rankings, he will drop to 10670, which will still see him in second place as Roger Federer in third only has 6070 and has quarter-final points to defend in Cincinnati.
Meanwhile Djokovic, with 13130 points, has just 540 points to defend in the U.S Open Series, and is in the form of his life after winning the Miami-Indian Wells double in Spring, winning the Italian Open and making the French Open final, and winning his second Wimbledon title. High on confidence and arguably the best hard-court player on the tour right now, winning one of either ATP 1000 titles in Canada or Cincinnati, if not both, is well within his reach.
As for the U.S Open, Nadal has 2000 points to defend there, and it is hard to see him defending going in there cold. Djokovic would be the heavy favorite to at least equal his 2013 runner-up showing. That tournament could also see Nadal lose his No.2 position if he falls early and Federer, who only has fourth round points to defend, goes far.
The fall part of the season has never been Nadal’s strongest, while for Djokovic it is where his game really comes into its own. Last year, he swept up the Beijing, Shanghai, Paris and WTF titles, and barring injury, it is hard to see him doing anything but repeating that feat, and finishing number one for the third time in his career.
Commentary by Christian Deverille
thetennisreview 
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