Age, injuries and Djokovic have Federer and Nadal now battling for who is No 2

Not so long ago, the Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal rivalry was the talk of the tennis world.

Age and injuries, and the emergence of Novak Djokovic, have taken some gloss off that rivalry, though, and the two contenders for the greatest-of-all-time tag have met just once for a title since the 2011 French Open final – at Rome in 2013.

It has been more than eight months since they faced off on a court (in the semi-final of the Australian Open) and their chances of meeting for the title at Shanghai this weekend seem remote.

Federer is in the same half of the draw as Djokovic, Andy Murray, Grigor Dimitrov and the in-form Kei Nishikori. Nadal shares the other half with US Open champion Marin Cilic, Australian Open winner Stan Wawrinka, Milos Raonic and Tomas Berdych.

The pair will still be facing off figuratively at the Shanghai Masters, with the winner taking the No 2 world ranking.

Nadal currently holds that spot but with a slender 285-point lead over Federer, and the Swiss has an opportunity to grab that position by winning the Shanghai title.

If Nadal loses in the second round or third, Federer only needs to reach the final to become world No 2. If the Spaniard reaches the final and loses to Federer, he will still keep his position.

For two greats of the game, battling for second-best might not seem like an exciting proposition.

But the fact that the world No 2 will not have to face Djokovic until the final at the Australian Open could be a big incentive.

Age, injuries and Djokovic have Federer and Nadal now battling for who is No 2

Age and injuries, and the emergence of Novak Djokovic, have taken some gloss off the rivalry between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, though, and the two contenders for the greatest-of-all-time tag have met just once for a title since the 2011 French Open final – at Rome in 2013.