Murray, Djokovic, fall out of ATP Top 10

AFP

Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic dropped outside the ATP top 10 for the first time in years in the latest rankings released on Monday.

The 30-year-old Murray plummeted from third to 16th after not playing since July with a hip injury.

The Scot's last appearance outside the top 10 was in October 2014.

The three-time Grand Slam winner last appeared on court at Wimbledon, losing in the quarterfinals to American Sam Querrey.

Shortly after that he was nudged off the top of the world rankings by Rafael Nadal, who sealed the end-of-year top spot at the Paris Masters last week.

Murray is due to face world No. 2 Roger Federer in a charity exhibition match in Glasgow on Tuesday before he starts his preparations for the Australian Open by playing in Brisbane.

Djokovic, struggling with an elbow injury, was also last seen in action in the Wimbledon quarterfinals when he retired against Tomas Berdych.

The 12-time Grand Slam winner ends the year in 12th, down five places, for his lowest ranking since March 2007.

Djokovic is hoping to make a comeback at the exhibition World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, next month.

American Jack Sock, who beat Filip Krajinovic of Serbia 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 in the Paris Masters final on Sunday, climbs 13 rungs to ninth on the ATP chart.

Sock's exploits in the French capital earned him a ticket to the World Tour Finals next week.

"Coming in this week I had no idea I could even make London," the 25-year-old told a press conference.

"It wasn't in my head. I just wanted to play some good tennis my last week and go start my offseason.

"Now to sit here and extend the season another two weeks, and to keep playing and achieve a lot of firsts today for me, is incredible."

Sock will also become the US No. 1 for the first time in his career after winning his third ATP title of the season.

His victory was the first in a Masters tournament by an American since former world No. 1 Andy Roddick took the Miami crown in 2010.

Nadal's participation in the season-ending tournament in London is in doubt after the world No. 1 and 16-time Grand Slam champion pulled out of Paris before his quarterfinal with a knee injury.

Meanwhile, Germany's Julia Goerges ends the season at a career-high 14th after climbing four places on the strength of Sunday's WTA Elite Trophy success in Zhuhai, south China's Guangdong Province.

The 28-year-old ended the WTA year in fine form with a 7-5, 6-1 triumph over second-seeded American CoCo Vandeweghe on Sunday to follow up her win in Moscow a fortnight ago.

Vandeweghe broke into the top 10 for the first time in the end-of-term rankings released on Monday headed by Romanian Simona Halep with France's Kristina Mladenovic dropping to 11th.