As the men's and women's world number one ranking will be surely handed to the new-comers, medal hopefuls for the Beijing Olympics are shaping up for the extravaganza event.

Rafael Nadal arrives at Beijing international airport on Monday afternoon. [sohu.com]

Rafael Nadal, on back of the Toronto win and by reaching the Cincinnati semifinal, is set to replace the current world number one Roger Federer afer the Games, while Jelena Jankovic will also attain the No.1 rankings in women's part, calling halt to her compatriot Ana Ivanovic's nine-week dominance over the top.

Jankovic, who crashed out of the quarterfinals of the Montreal Cup after losing to the 19-year-old Dominika Cibulkova last Friday, will become the 18th world number one since 1975.

"Since I was a young girl, it has been my dream to become number one in the world," Jankovic told the WTA website. "When you get older, at least one day you can say you were number one and no one can take that away from you."

The 23-year-old, together with Ivanovic and men's world number three Novak Djokovic, will be the major medal hopefuls for Serbia in the upcoming Games. But they all suffered defeats in the past week.

Ana Ivanovic

Since claiming the French Open title in June, Ivanovic just played the Wimbledon and last week's Montreal Open, suffering early exit in both of the tournament.

Djokovic finally snapped the three-match losing streak against Nadal and the Spaniard's 32-match unbeaten streak this season as well in the semifinals of the Cincinnati Masters event, although the 21-year-old lost to Scot Andy Murray in the final.

Murray is seeing his best season and will travel to the upcoming Beijing Games with a renewed conviction in his game with his first career Masters title.

Murray, who rose to a career-best sixth in the world on Monday, will compete in the men's singles and doubles with his borther Jamie in the Olympic Games.

Federer is still suffering the most heartbreaking setback in the past five years, bowing out of the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati event after losing to big-serving Croat Ivo Karlovic.

Federer, who will be celebrating his 27th birthday on the day of the ceremony, will lead his country at the opening of the Beijing Olympics.

"It is a true honor for me to lead the Swiss athletes into the stadium, carrying the Swiss flag," Federer said on his official website.

"I have had the privilege to experience many wonderful things. The Olympics are and will always be one of the best.

Federer came into the Athens Games as a heavy gold medal favourite but suffered an upset against Czech Republic's Tomas Berdych in the second round.

He also participated in the Sydney Games where he met his girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec and claimed the fourth place.

Except the Serbian duo, the Russian women's contingent will also be eyeing the gold medal at the Games.