Nadal clinches year-end world No. 1 ranking

In a remarkable year for men’s tennis, Rafael Nadal has defied expectations and guaranteed he will end 2017 as the world No. 1.

The 31-year-old Spaniard sealed the year-end crown Wednesday with a hard-fought 7-5, 6-3 victory at the Paris Masters against rising South Korean star Hyeon Chung.

In front of a close-to-capacity crowd at the AccorHotels Arena, Nadal looked frustrated at times. He made more errors than usual and was forced to move around the court by his opponent — one of the ATP’s highly rated “Next Generation” players, in a match that lasted close to two hours.