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Nadal expects Djokovic to pass him as world No. 1

Novak Djokovic has beaten Rafael Nadal in two consecutive finals © PA Photos

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Rafael Nadal admits his world No. 1 status is under threat after being beaten by Novak Djokovic in the Sony Ericsson Open final.

Djokovic extended his unbeaten start to the season to an astonishing 24 matches and he has now won four tournaments, including two Masters events and the Australian Open.

The Serb's streak matches Nadal's unbeaten run last year in which the Spaniard won 24 matches en route to claiming three Masters titles and the French Open. And with 5000 ranking points to defend on the clay in the next two months, Nadal admits he will be looking over his shoulder at the in-form Djokovic.

"I think he's going to be No. 1," Nadal said. "It's difficult for me to say my goal is to be No. 1. My goal is to be competitive in every tournament. If I do that, I'm going to have my chance to be No. 1.

"He won two tournaments in a row right now, very big tournaments and one grand slam. The normal thing is he will be No. 1 in the next month, month and a half, two months. I don't know. It depends on my results on clay.

"For sure he will be there, no? I'm going to fight for me. If I am solid, if I play a very good clay-court season, we will see what's going on after."

Britain's Andy Murray returned to world No. 4 after leapfrogging Robin Soderling, while Andy Roddick dropped out of the top ten for only the third time since 2002 and has been replaced as American No. 1 by Mardy Fish, who climbed to a career-high ranking of 11.

In the WTA rankings Victoria Azarenka moved up to world No. 6 following her victory over Maria Sharapova in Miami, while the Russian's final appearance saw her return to the top ten for the first time in over two years.

ATP Tour Rankings
1. Rafael Nadal (SPA), 2. Novak Djokovic (SRB), 3. Roger Federer (SUI), 4. Andy Murray (GBR), 5. Robin Soderling (SWE), 6. David Ferrer (SPA), 7. Tomas Berdych (CZE) 8. Fernando Verdasco (SPA), 9. Jurgen Melzer (AUT), 10. Gael Monfils (FRA)

WTA Tour Rankings
1. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN), 2. Kim Clijsters (BEL), 3. Vera Zvonareva (RUS), 4. Francesca Schiavone (ITA), 5. Sam Stosur (AUS), 6. Victoria Azarenka (BLR), 7. Li Na (CHN), 8. Jelena Jankovic (SRB), 9. Maria Sharapova (RUS), 10. Serena Williams (USA)

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