Zeballos jumps in rankings with 1st title

LONDON, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- Horacio Zeballos joined an elite group with his victory over Rafael Nadal at the ATP stop in Chile, a win that boosted him to No. 43 in the world rankings.

Zeballos came away a three-set winner in the finals over No. 5-ranked Nadal Sunday. It was the first time Nadal dropped a championship match to someone other than Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer or Andy Murray in his last 24 finals appearances.

The outcome was just as rare for Zeballos, who claimed his first ATP title and first win over a Top 10 player. He beat four seeded players in winning the VTR Open by Cachantun in Vina del Mar, Chile. The win boosted him 30 spots in the rankings.

Even with three tournaments there was no change in the Top 10 this week. In addition to Zeballos, the champions were Richard Gasquet in Montpellier, France, and Marin Cilic, in Zagreb, Croatia. Gasquet remains No 10 and Cilic is 12th in the updated rankings.

Djokovic is No. 1, inching closer to Stefan Edberg, whose 72 weeks atop the rankings is 10th most all time. Djokovic, with 12,960 points has been ranked first for 68 weeks. The all-time record is 302 weeks, held by Federer, ranked No. 2. He has 10,265 points.

Murray, with 8,480 points, is fourth followed by David Ferrer with 6,865. Nadal has 5,550 points.

Tomas Berdych comes in sixth with 4,575 and Juan Martin del Potro (4,210) is No. 7. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga takes the eighth spot with 3,515 points followed by No. 9 Janko Tipsarevic (3,215) and Gasquet (2,925.)

The ATP has three tournaments again this week with Federer looking to defend his title in the Netherlands against a field that includes del Potro, Tsonga and Gasquet. Nadal headlines the Brazil Open where No. 11 Nicolas Almagro is a two-time defending champion. Another two-time defending champion, No. 13 Milos Raonic, is the top seed at the SAP Open in San Jose, Calif.