Federer again ranked No. 1

LONDON, July 6 (UPI) -- Roger Federer's 15th Grand Slam championship has returned him to the top of the men's world tennis rankings.

Federer defeated Andy Roddick in five sets Sunday in winning his sixth Wimbledon title, allowing him to pass Pete Sampras for the most major tournament championships in men's tennis.

Federer had lost the Wimbledon final a year ago to Rafael Nadal, a decision that helped Nadal unseat Federer from the No. 1 spot he held for a record 237 consecutive weeks.

But Nadal has been sidelined with knee problems and wasn't on hand to protect the points that come with the major tournament title. That, and the Wimbledon title, allowed Federer to move back to No. 1 in rankings released Monday.

Nadal slipped to No. 2 and it's unclear when he will return to competition.

There were minimal other changes in the Top 10 after Wimbledon. Andy Murray remained ranked third ahead of No. 4 Novak Djokovic and fifth-ranked Juan Martin del Potro.

Roddick retained his No. 6 spot and Gilles Simon is still seventh. But Jo-Wilfried Tsonga moved up one spot to eighth, dropping Fernando Verdasco to ninth. Fernando Gonzalez is ranked 10th.