Rafael Nadal of Spain shakes the hands with Novak Djokovic of Serbia after winning the Men's singles final match during Day eight of the International BNL d'Italia at Foro Italico on May 19
Come November, Noval Djokovic will lose his World No.1 spot in the ATP Rankings to Rafael Nadal following his unsuccessful title-defence run at Shanghai Masters 2019 leaving the Spaniard to take the throne.
Djokovic, who had won the 2018 edition in Shanghai, was defending 1000 ATP points when he returned to action after a short break from a shoulder injury in September. But only managed to add 180 points to his present tally following a quarterfinal round defeat to Stefanos Tsitsipas. The defeat leaves him with 9545 points before Paris Masters as against Nadal's 9225 points, who also maintains a sizeable lead against the Serb in the race for year-end No. 1.
Djokovic will not be part of any tournament between Shanghai and Paris Masters. And he will be defending a total of 1600 points at Paris Masters and at Tour Finals, both of which will be deducted from his present total owing to ATP rules. Hence, Nadal will regain the top spot on November 4 and is slated to hold the position even if Djokovic wins the Paris Masters which will offer him 1000 points on victory. The Spaniard, who is presently busy with his wedding celebrations, is expected to join the tour in Paris. Besides, Nadal does not have any points to defend the remainder of the season.
However, the numbers don't cushion Nadal's hope of finishing the year as No.1, who has a 1,280-point lead against the Serb. If Djokovic manages to lift the title in Paris, he will be able to cut off the gap by a few hundreds. But that would also be possible if Nadal fails to run deep in Paris Masters. That would leave a maximum of 1500 points up for grabs at the Tour Finals.
