Andy Murray remained on top of the ATP's rankings with the August 14th update. Murray's lead on top of the world is ever so slim at this point as just 195 points separate the Scot from Rafael Nadal. That this will be Murray's last week during his current reign as the World No. 1 player on the ATP Tour is clear. The dice were cast on that matter when he announced his withdrawal from the 2017 Cincinnati Masters a few days ago. Since Murray made the Cincinnati final last year his idleness this year during the Western & Southern Open will hurt him.
Either Nadal or Roger Federer will be No. 1 following the completion of the Cincinnati tournament.
Murray's place on all-time list improved
But Murray adding one more week to his stay on August 14th had some significance. With 41 total weeks on top of the men's rankings, Murray now has one more week than Ilie Nastase, the Romanian player that was the original No. 1 when the ATP started using the modern ranking system. Nastase moves down to 15th all time on the list while Murray moves into 14th on the list. His 41 weeks is two behind of Gustavo Kuerten, the Brazilian clay courter that enjoyed success in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Kuerten spent a total of 43 weeks ranked No. 1 in his career.
In order for Murray to surpass that he would need to reclaim the top ranking after he deals with his injuries.
Currently, Murray is missing time due a hip injury that has bothered him for months. He lost in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon earlier this summer, the Scot missed the Rogers Cup that was played over the last week, and he will miss Cincinnati as well.
The 2017 US Open starts on August 28th and that is an event that Murray could gain some ranking points in. Despite playing exceptionally well toward the end of 2016, the US Open was an event last season where he wasn't quite up to his normal playing level. He fell in the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows last season to Kei Nishikori in a five-set match.
If Murray is healthy for New York then he would have a chance to gain a significant amount of ranking points back.
Minimal changes in the top ten
While the top of men's tennis will change next week, there weren't many changes this week with Nadal's fail in Montreal. Alexander Zverev did budge up one spot thanks to his title run in Montreal. Zverev is now the World No. 7 as he displaced Dominic Thiem, a player that fell down to the World No. 8 position. The big mover of the week is Denis Shapovalov, the Canadian who made the semifinals in Montreal. He's up 76 positions and is now the World No. 67 at the age of 18.
