Federer back to third in world rankings

Roger Federer's unbeaten run in the ATP World Tour Finals lifted him back to No. 3 in the men's world tennis rankings. It was a record sixth Tour Finals title for Federer, who was appearing in his 100th ATP title match. He's won 70 It also ended a six-week stay at No. 4, his lowest ranking since June 23, 2003. This marks the sixth consecutive year that Federer finishes ranked at least No. 3. Federer closed the year with a flourish, winning his last 17 matches and 24 of his last 26. Included in that run are titles at Basel, Switzerland, the Paris Masters and, with a 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3 win Sunday over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the ATP Tour Finals in London. His move from fourth to third was the reverse for Andy Murray, who ends the year in the No. 4 spot. It was the only change in the Top 10. Novak Djokovic locked up the year-end No. 1 ranking some time ago with a phenomenal season in which he was 70-6, won 10 tournaments -- three Grand Slam events -- and just short of $11 million. He has 13,675 rankings points. Rafael Nadal (9,575 points) is second with Federer totaling 8,170 points and Murray fourth with 7,380. David Ferrer, with 4,800 points, is No. 5. Tsonga (4,335) ends the year at sixth, followed by Tomas Berdych (3,700), Mardy Fish (2,965), Janko Tipsarevic (2,595) and Nicolas Almagro (2,380) in the 10th spot. The only men's tennis event remaining in this year is the Davis Cup final this week with Argentina playing at Spain. Davis Cup events don't count in the rankings. The first tournaments on the 2012 calendar are The Qatar ExxonMobil Open, the Aircel Chennai Open in India and the Brisbane International in Australia. They all begin Jan. 2.