Ferrer back in men's tennis Top 10

LONDON, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- David Ferrer crept back into the men's tennis Top 10 as the 16 highest-ranked players head for Shanghai for a chance to win a place in the ATP World Finals.

Ferrer, who finished second at the China Open, created the only change in the Top 10 by switching places with Andy Roddick, dropping the American to No. 11. Ferrer is ranked 10th but is within 65 ratings points of the No. 8 ranking.

The World Finals, set for late November in London, take the eight highest-ranked players available -- some may be unable to play due to injury -- so positioning to be among the Top Eight in the rankings is important. That's why every player in the Top 16 is at the Shanghai Masters, which began Monday

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal, second-ranked Novak Djokovic and No. 3 Roger Federer have secured their invitations to the World Finals. Andy Murray and Robin Soderling are solidly in fourth and fifth, respectively, and should feel good about qualifying.

But after that the rankings bunch up. Nikolay Davydenko is sixth with 3,945 rating points, not far ahead of the 3,715 total of No. 7 Tomas Berdych. Mikhail Youzhny holds the eighth spot with 3,345 points.

No. 9-ranked Fernando Verdasco is just 15 points back of Youzhny and Ferrer is 50 back of Verdasco. Roddick remains in contention with 3,225 points.