How far will Nadal slide down the Rankings?

After failing to defend his Australian Open title, Spain's Rafael Nadal fell to #4 in the world rankings - his lowest since June 2005 - almost five years. With another injury that will prevent him from competing in his next tournament, Nadal is sure to slide further down the rankings. He is defending a lot of points in the first five months of the year.

His current ranking points include the following:

Tournament - Points - Drop Off Date

Rotterdam - 300 - Feb 15, 2010
Indian Wells - 1,000 - March 22, 2010
Monte Carlo - 1,000 - April 19, 2010
Barcelona - 500 - April 26, 2010
Rome - 1,000 - May 3, 2010

The above points total 3,800 - more than the number of points that #8 Robin Soderling won last year. If Nadal falls out of the top 4, and since the French Open is sticking strictly to the men's rankings in their seeding, there could be a Nadal-Federer quarterfinal at Rolland Garros. That's if Soderling doesn't get to Nadal first.