Race for No.1 is not over

After Rafael Nadal’s shock loss to Canadian wildcard Denis Shapovalov, Andy Murray is guaranteed to hold onto the world No.1 ranking – for now.

Nadal needed to make at least the semifinals at the Rogers Cup in Montreal to overtake Murray at the top of next week’s ATP World Tour singles rankings. But his third round exit ensures Murray will remain the world No.1 for a 41st consecutive week.

However the No.1 ranking will again be on the line next week in Cincinnati – where Roger Federer could potentially also be in contention.

If Federer wins the Montreal title this week, he will only trail Murray by 205 points and Nadal by 10.

With injury meaning Murray can’t defend the 600 points he earnt with a Cincinnati finals appearance last year, both Nadal and Federer would overtake him and be competing for the top spot.

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Federer, who has spent a record 302 weeks as world No.1, last held the coveted position in November 2012. Nadal’s last stint as No.1 was in July 2014.

But before we start thinking about how next week could play out – the rankings battle is not over this week.

Brazilian Marcelo Melo is at risk of losing his No.1 doubles ranking (and could potentially slip to No.3) after an early exit in Montreal.

Finland’s Henri Kontinen, who Melo replaced after winning Wimbledon last month, can return to the top spot if he and Australian partner John Peers reach the semifinals.

Kontinen, who spent 15 weeks as No.1 earlier this year, and Peers play Wimbledon finalists Mate Pavic and Oliver Marach in the quarterfinals.

> Check out the Rogers Cup men’s doubles draw

In Toronto, Czech Lucie Safarova can overtake injured regular partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands to become the WTA Tour’s world No.1-ranked doubles player. It would be the first time in the 30-year-old’s career she has held the No.1 ranking.

Safarova, who is playing with countrywoman Barbora Strycova this week as Mattek-Sands recovers from knee surgery, needs to make the final to take the top spot.

Safarova and Strycova, the No.3 seeds, face unseeded pairing Gabriela Dabrowski and Jelena Ostapenko in the quarterfinals.

> Check out the Rogers Cup women’s doubles draw