Federer closer to No. 1 Nadal in ATP rankings, Soderling up to 12th; Kuznetsova No. 5 in WTA

Federer closes gap with Nadal; Soderling rises

PARIS — Roger Federer’s French Open victory cut the points gap between him and No. 1 Rafael Nadal in the ATP rankings by more than half.

The second-ranked Federer trailed Nadal by 4,490 points before the tournament at Roland Garros; the deficit is 2,070 points in Monday’s rankings.

“I know it’s going to be hard to take it away from him,” Federer said.

Federer held the No. 1 ranking for a record 237 consecutive weeks, until Nadal surpassed him in August.

Asked Monday whether he follows the rankings closely enough to know when he might be able to return to No. 1, Federer replied: “This is not my priority right now. … For me, it’s about the majors, really, right now.”

French Open runner-up Robin Soderling moved up to a career-best No. 12 from No. 25. He stunned four-time defending champion Nadal in the fourth round in Paris.

Semifinalist Fernando Gonzalez rose two spots to No. 10, the only change in the top 10.

French Open women’s champion Svetlana Kuznetsova went from No. 7 to No. 5 in the WTA rankings. The runner-up, Dinara Safina, stayed at No. 1, followed by Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Elena Dementieva.

Last year’s French Open champion, Ana Ivanovic, fell from No. 8 to No. 13. Like Nadal, she lost in the fourth round this year.