U.S. Open champ del Potro back to No. 5

LONDON, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Juan Martin del Potro's run to the U.S. Open championship moved him back to a career-best No. 5 world ranking.

Del Potro knocked off world No. 1 Roger Federer in five sets Monday to win the U.S. Open, his first Grand Slam title. That also allowed him to move ahead of sixth-ranked Andy Roddick in men's tennis rankings released Tuesday.

A year ago, del Potro was ranked No. 13 but was rising. He cracked the Top 10 last October and reached No. 5 in the rankings for the first time in April. He spent 12 weeks in that spot until Roddick's advance to the finals at Wimbledon pushed him down to sixth.

The U.S. Open win, however, gives del Potro a substantial points lead over Roddick as the 2009 season winds down.

Federer has an even bigger lead for the top spot. Rafael Nadal, back from injury, returned to the No. 2 ranking after about a month at No. 3. Andy Murray slipped back to third. Novak Djokovic remained ranked No. 4.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Nikolay Davydenko kept the No. 7 and No. 8 rankings, respectively, but Fernando Verdasco and Gilles Simon swapped places, with Verdaco now ninth and Simon No. 10.