• Nadal.A for a fifth 'number one' to match Djokovic and Federer

Two weeks after his abandonment in the round of 16 of the US Open, Novak Djokovic still has nothing clear when he will return to the competition. The 'number one', enrolled in the Tokyo and Shanghai tournaments, follows a physiotherapy treatment to avoid surgery on his left shoulder, although the injury seems more serious than was initially feared.

The 640 points of advantage in the ranking over Rafa Nadal could vanish before the end of the season. In fact, the decline of Nole in the Shanghai Masters would mean the automatic rise of the Spanish to the top of the ATP. The Belgrade player would lose the 1,000 points of his 2018 title, while Rafa, in case of playing in China from October 7, would always add up.

On Monday, Djokovic blew the alarms with his statements to Serbian public television. "I would like to say when I will return, but really, I don't know. Every day we check how the rehabilitation is going and how the shoulder responds," revealed the winner of 16 Grand Slam tournaments.

"More serious than we thought"

"Unfortunately, the injury was more serious than we thought," he admitted about this medical condition, which forced him to say goodbye in New York during the third set against Stan Wawrinka. At the moment, Novak continues with its delicate rehabilitation in the Serbian city of Kopaonik.

Before Shanghai, he had announced his presence in Tokyo, an appointment that starts on September 30 and opens this year on the calendar. However, it seems very unlikely that he will start the Asian tour in a tournament that only awards 500 points to the winner.

Already in Switzerland

Meanwhile, the horizon seems much clearer to Nadal, that last year he missed all this final stretch because of his knee problems. This same afternoon, the new winner of the US Open has arrived in Switzerland, where he will play the Laver Cup from next Friday.

Rafa also plans to participate in the Paris-Bercy Masters and the ATP Finals, two of the events he still could not win in 15 years of his career. He also wants to close the course in Madrid, home of the new Davis Cup format.

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