Tennis: Halep closes on world No.1 Osaka, Federer up to 4th

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Simona Halep cut the gap to world No.1 Naomi Osaka in the WTA rankings on Monday after the Romanian made the semifinals at the Miami Open last week.

French Open champion Halep, who last held the top spot in January, would have returned to the summit had she reached the final in Florida following Osaka's early exit.

Halep reduced Osaka's lead to 239 points and moved above Petra Kvitova after the Czech fell to eventual champion Ashleigh Barty in the last eight.

China's Wang Qiang climbed to 16th as she moved up two places.

China's Wang Qiang leaves Simona Halep of Romania behind in the quarterfinals of the women's singles at the Miami Open, March 27, 2019. /VCG Photo

For the men's side, Roger Federer climbed one spot to fourth in the ATP rankings after capturing his 101st career title with his victory over John Isner in Miami.

The 37-year-old Swiss great switched places with Austria's Dominic Thiem, who had briefly sat in fourth after defeating Federer in the final at Indian Wells two weeks ago.

Federer is in top form after a “Sunshine Double” run, namely the first two ATP Masters 1000 tournaments of the year in Indian Wells and Miami, and is now leading the ATP Race To London for the third consecutive year.

Thiem lost to Hubert Hurkacz at the start of Miami and he is now 565 points ahead of Japan's Kei Nishikori who had to leave Miami after the second round as well.

Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas hits a forehand during the second round of the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells, March 9, 2019. /VCG Photo

Rising Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas, 20, moved up to a career best of eighth as the youngest player in top 10, while Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov cracked the top 20 for the first time following his run to the Miami semifinals.

Novak Djokovic is comfortable spending the 245th week at the top of the standings, despite crashing out in the last 16 in Miami.

Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal is still well ahead of third-ranked Alexander Zverev as the Spaniard targets a return from injury for the clay-court season.

Source(s): AFP