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Federer No. 1 going into U.S. Open

Roger Federer, shown with his 2012 Wimbledon championship trophy, will be the No. 1-ranked men's tennis player when the U.S. Open starts next week. UPI/Hugo Philpott
Roger Federer, shown with his 2012 Wimbledon championship trophy, will be the No. 1-ranked men's tennis player when the U.S. Open starts next week. UPI/Hugo Philpott | License Photo

LONDON, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- Roger Federer's continued record-setting run sets him up as the No. 1 player in men's tennis going into the U.S. Open.

Federer defeated Novak Djokovic 6-0, 7-6 (9-7) Sunday in collecting a record fifth title at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati. It was his record-tying 21st ATP Masters-level championship, equaling the mark set by Rafael Nadal.

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Djokovic entered last week's tournament in Cincinnati with a chance to pass Federer for the No. 1 ranking. That ended when Federer beat Stanislas Wawrinka in the semifinals.

Federer has been No. 1 for the last seven weeks -- since winning a record-tying seventh championship at Wimbledon -- and 292 weeks overall. That is also a record.

He will be ranked No. 1 when U.S. Open organizers set the seedings and draw this week for the year's final tennis major tournament. The Open begins Aug. 27 and is to wind up with the men's singles final Sept. 9.

Federer has 12,165 points in the rankings while Djokovic is second with 11,270. Nadal, who lost to Djokovic in last year's U.S. Open final, is third at 8,715 but has withdrawn from the Open due to a knee injury. No. 4-ranked Andy Murray, coming off a win at the Olympics, has 7,290 points.

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David Ferrer (5,375) is fifth, followed, in order, by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (4,835) and Tomas Berdych (4,155). Juan Martin del Potro, who lost to Djokovic in the Cincinnati semifinals, moves up one place to No. 8. He has 3,620 points. Janko Tipsarevic (3,285) slips to ninth and John Isner, who had 2,880 points, completes the Top 10.

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