Rafael Nadal believes there is a good chance Novak Djokovic will replace him as World No 1 this summer
Rafael Nadal believes there is a good chance Novak Djokovic will replace him as World No 1 this summer.
Serbian Djokovic stayed unbeaten in 2011 by beating top-ranked Spaniard Nadal in a thrilling Miami Open final.
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| Spaniard Rafael Nadal during Sunday's Miami Open final against Serb Novak Djokovic. PIC/AFP |
The Australian Open champion won 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to pick up his 24th straight win this year, backing up his Indian Wells final win over Nadal a fortnight ago. "I think he's going to be number one," said Nadal.
"It's difficult for me to say my goal is to be number one. My goal is to be competitive in every tournament.
"If I do that, I'm going to have my chance to be number one.
"He won two tournaments in a row right now, very big tournaments and one grand slam.
"The normal thing is he will be number one in the next month, month and a half, two months. I don't know. It depends on my results on clay.
"For sure he will be there, no? I'm going to fight for me. If I am solid, if I play a very good clay-court season, we will see what's going on after."
Clay is Nadal's favourite surface and he won four straight tournaments on it last year, including the French Open, but should his performance fall away even slightly this year that would allow Djokovic to take advantage.
