CINCINATTI // His 33rd consecutive victory has ensured that it is now only a question of when Rafael Nadal will usurp Roger Federer as the world No 1 in the rankings.
The Spaniard's quarter-final win over Nicolas Lapentti on Friday meant that before the end of August he will leapfrog Federer in the standings, thus ending the Swiss player's four-and-a-half-year reign at the top of the standings.
If Nadal wins the event in Cincinatti he will be No 1 tomorrow. If he gets to the final, but loses, he will take over at the top on Aug 11, while if he was beaten in last night's semi-finals he will have to wait until August 18 to move above Federer, due to the complex ranking points system.
Federer's shock last 16 exit to Ivo Karlovic had opened the door for Nadal, and the French Open and Wimbledon champion maintained his great recent form to take advantage of the opportunity.
He defeated Ecuador's Nicolas Lapentti 7-6, 6-1 to secure his passage into the last four and ensure that he follows Carlos Moya and Juan Carlos Ferrero in becoming only the third Spaniard to top the world rankings.
Nadal said of his achievement: "I am happy because I have been fighting a lot these last three years, although I was happy as number two as I won a lot of tournaments.
"But for sure, number one is a goal and I am very happy."
Nadal was scheduled to face the No 3 seed Novak Djokovic for a place in tonight's final.
The Serbian continued his good form as he looks to bounce back from his early exits at Wimbledon and Toronto as he battled past the unseeded Latvian Ernests Gulbis 6-3, 6-4 and Nadal knows he will need to play better to advance.
Britain's Andy Murray is also into the last four, although he made hard work of getting there as he defeated Carlos Moya 2-6, 6-3, 6-1.
The No 8 seed had seemed to be on his way out of the tournament when he lost the first set , and then went a break down in the second set as Moya dominated.
But Murray rallied bravely as he broke twice to win the second set, and then charged through the third set to ensure his second semi-final spot in successive weeks.
And Murray's reward was a semi-final clash with Karlovic.
The Croatian, maintained his form that had proven too good for Federer as he defeated the German Philipp Kohlschreiber with a 7-6, 7-6 victory.
* Reuters
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The past Palme d'Or winners
2018 Shoplifters, Hirokazu Kore-eda
2017 The Square, Ruben Ostlund
2016 I, Daniel Blake, Ken Loach
2015 Dheepan, Jacques Audiard
2014 Winter Sleep (Kış Uykusu), Nuri Bilge Ceylan
2013 Blue is the Warmest Colour (La Vie d'Adèle: Chapitres 1 et 2), Abdellatif Kechiche, Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux
2012 Amour, Michael Haneke
2011 The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick
2010 Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Lung Bunmi Raluek Chat), Apichatpong Weerasethakul
2009 The White Ribbon (Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte), Michael Haneke
2008 The Class (Entre les murs), Laurent Cantet
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
