By Nick Georgandis
ATP: Novak Djokovic jumped more than 1,000 points ahead of Roger Federer in the battle to be ranked No. 1 at year’s end on Sunday, winning Beijing over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Sunday, Djokovic added 1,000 points to his 65-11 2012 campaign. It’s Djokovic’s 54th week as the No. 1 ranked player, and his first time in the position since July 8, 2012.
The Serb is currently 12th all-time in total weeks at No. 1, four behind Jim Courier (58). Federer is first overall at 299 weeks.
In addition to the growing of Djokovic’s lead, the men’s top 10 saw Tomas Berdych move back to sixth in the world, knocking Juan Martin Del Potro backto No. 7 after Berdych reached the quarterfinals at Tokyo last week.
Berdych lost to Kei Nishikori, the tournament’s eventual winner, who jumped six spots to No. 19 with the win. Nishikori defeated Canada’s Milos Raonic in the final, who moved up a spot to No. 13, dropping John Isner, the top-ranked American, to 14th.
Big moves inside the Top 50 came from Marcos Baghdatis and Feliciano Lopez. Baghdatis, ranked as high as 10th in his career, jumped eight spots to No. 36 after reaching the Tokyo semifinals to improve to 30-22 on the year.
The 31-year-old Lopez squared his season record at 23-23 by reaching the Beijing semifinals, jumping 11 spots to No. 37.
WTA: Serena Williams rose to No. 3 in the world in the latest WTA poll, while Victoria Azarenka strengthened her hold on the No. 1 position with a tournament win at Beijing, defeating No. 2 Maria Sharapova.
Williams has not played since the US Open, but Agnieszka Radwanska lost points last week to slide back to No. 4 in the world.
Also changing positions in the Top 10 were Li Na and Sara Errani. Li took over No.7 while Errani fell back to No. 8 after Li reached the Beijing semifinals, knocking off Radawnska in the quarters.