Federer drops to world number three

Three is not a magic number for Roger Federer Keystone

Switzerland’s Roger Federer has dropped a place in tennis’s weekly ATP rankings to a position he most recently held in November 2003.

Rafael Nadal extended his grip on the men’s tour following his win at Wimbledon on Sunday, while Novak Djokovic, who lost in the semifinals, leapfrogged the Swiss.

Nadal has 10,745 points, Djokovic 6,905 and Federer 6,885. Andy Murray remains in fourth, back on 5,155.

On Sunday Nadal won his second Wimbledon trophy, his eighth grand slam title and second major in four weeks. He dismantled first-time grand slam finalist Tomas Berdych, who had upset Federer in the quarterfinals, in straight sets.

Federer, holder of 16 grand slam titles, has now gone five months without a tournament win.

Federer was number one earlier this season but was overtaken by Nadal on June 7, after the French Open. Nadal won his fifth title at Roland Garros, while Federer lost in the quarterfinals there too.

That left the Swiss one week shy of tying Pete Sampras’s career record of 286 total weeks at the top.

swissinfo.ch and agencies