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Almost nine years to the day since he first became No. 1, Spain’s Rafael Nadal today returned to the top of the Emirates ATP Rankings for his fourth stint at the pinnacle of men’s professional tennis. Nadal, who has already spent 141 total weeks at No. 1, replaces Great Britain’s Andy Murray, who had held the top spot for 41 weeks since 7 November 2016.

Nadal, who first ascended to No. 1 on 18 August 2008 at the age of 22, last held top spot three years and 45 days ago on 6 July 2014. The Spaniard will now look to stay ahead of his great Swiss rival Roger Federer and finish atop the year-end Emirates ATP Rankings for the first time since 2013 and for the fourth time in his career (2008, 2010, 2013).

"Being No. 1 after all the things that I have been going through the last couple of years is something unbelievable, so [it] is, for me, an amazing achievement to be back to that position after [a] few years, three years," said Nadal

On 12 June, Nadal became the first player to qualify for the 2017 season-ending Nitto ATP Finals, to be held at The O2 in London from 12-19 November. It is the 13th straight year that he has qualified for the elite eight-player tournament.

Title-winning Aussies Jacob Grills and Astra Sharma were among five Aussies appearing in professional-level finals around the world at the weekend.

Melbourne VIC, Australia, 21 August 2017 | tennis.com.au

Jacob Grills won his second career title with victory in the Thailand F6 Futures tournament in Nonthaburi.

The 22-year-old continued his good form in his tour of Asia, with the Nonthaburi triumph coming in his third Futures final in the past two months.

Grills beat fellow Aussie Blake Ellis in the semifinals before recording a 7-6(4) 7-5 win over sixth seed N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth in the final.

Nick Kyrgios found Grigor too strong in the Western & Southern Open final in Cincinnati, going down to the Bulgarian in his first ATP Masters decider.

Cincinnati, OH, USA, 21 August 2017 | AAP

Nick Kyrgios went down in the Cincinnati Masters final to Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets on Sunday.

Kyrgios lost 6-3 7-5, the Australian unable to reproduce the form which saw him beat world No.1 Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals.

Kyrgios capitulated with three double faults in the 11th game of the second set, handing Bulgarian Dimitrov a decisive break and a 6-5 lead.

Fifteen-time Grand Slam champion and new world No.1 Rafael Nadal has confirmed his highly anticipated return to the tenth edition of the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp in January.

“A lot of things have happened since the last time I was in this spot. Injuries and some tough moments, of course, but I have held the passion and the love for the game, and that’s why I have the chance to be back in that position again,” Nadal said prior to the Cincinnati Masters last week.

Nadal played Brisbane for the first time in January, with the tournament proving the ideal preparation for his Australian Open campaign after the 31-year-old reached the final at Melbourne Park against career rival Roger Federer (SUI).

“I’m very happy to be back, last year for me was the first experience and was very successful.  The atmosphere is great and there’s a lot of nice people supporting the event. I really enjoyed the experience.”