Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz make rankings history, first Spanish duo to achieve feat

Rafael Nadal climbed to the No 2 spot on the ATP rankings on Monday despite making an early exit from the US Open. The Spaniard has not played any other tournament except the Laver Cup, which was Roger Federer's last tournament. In the latest ATP rankings, Nadal overtook Casper Rudd in the ATP rankings after the US Open runners-up lost to Nishioka in the ATP 250 event in Seoul. 

Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal make it Spanish 1-2 in the ATP rankings

Carlos Alcaraz became the youngest World No 1 after winning the US Open title. While he maintained his place at the top of the table, Rafael Nadal's move to the No 2 spot meant two players from Spain took the top two places for the first time in 22 years. The last time two players from a single country held the top two spots on the rankings was back in August 2000. American tennis legends Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras occupied the No 1 and 2 rankings, respectively. Nadal returns to the top two for the first time since the week of 3 May 2021. He was ranked as low as World No. 6 this January.

Rafael Nadal Offers Casper Ruud a Chance for 'revenge' with promise

Rafael Nadal is all set to make his return to the tennis court by playing on the exhibition tour across South America before the end of this year. Casper Rudd will also be part of the tour. Taking to Instagram, Ruud announced that he will be joining Nadal on the tour. The tour will get underway in Buenos Aires on November 21. The former had lost to Nadal in the Roland Garros final back in June and now has the opportunity to take revenge not once but five times. 

In the video, Nadal is asked by Ruud about a potential rematch to which the Spaniard said, "Well, let me think. Here's what we're going to do. We're going to play a rematch in Buenos Aires. If you win, I owe you a barbecue." He added "I tell you what, we’ll do five rematches. One in Buenos Aires, Bogota, Quinto, Belo Horizonte, Mexico City. Is that enough or not?" The Norwegian looked happy to take the offer from Nadal.