Federer closes gap with Nadal; Soderling rises

Roger Federer's French Open title cut in half the points gap between him and No 1 Rafael Nadal in the ATP rankings. No 2 Federer trailed Nadal by 4,490 points before Roland Garros; the deficit is 2,070 in Monday's rankings.

Updated on: Jun 8, 2009, 19:20:56 IST

AP | By HT Correspondent, Paris

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Roger Federer's French Open title cut in half the points gap between him and No 1 Rafael Nadal in the ATP rankings.

No 2 Federer trailed Nadal by 4,490 points before Roland Garros; the deficit is 2,070 in Monday's rankings.

"I know it's going to be hard to take it away from him," Federer said.

Federer held the No 1 ranking for a record 237 consecutive weeks, until Nadal surpassed him in August.

Asked on Monday whether he follows the rankings closely enough to know when he might be able to return to No 1, Federer replied: "This is not my priority right now. ... For me, it's about the majors, really, right now."

French Open runner-up Robin Soderling moved up to a career-best No 12 from No 25. He stunned four-time defending champion Nadal in the fourth round in Paris.

Semifinalist Fernando Gonzalez rose two spots to No 10, the only change in the top 10.

French Open women's champion Svetlana Kuznetsova went from No 7 to No 5 in the WTA rankings. The runner-up, Dinara Safina, stayed at No 1, followed by Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Elena Dementieva.

Last year's French Open champion, Ana Ivanovic, fell from No 8 to No 13 on Monday. Like Nadal, she lost in the fourth round this year.

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