ROTTERDAM – It’s history. At 36 years, 6 months and 11 days old, Roger Federer will be once again No. 1 in the world when the ATP updates its rankings on Monday, February 19. Roger’s first ascendancy to the No. 1 spot occurred 14 years ago. The last time that the Swiss had the honour to sit on top of the world was more than 5 years ago. With this epic new chapter, Roger joins the elite group of Senna, Jordan, Pelè and Valentino Rossi among the immortals in sports’ history and becomes the oldest world No. 1 since the ATP rankings were introduced in 1973 – a record previously owned by Andre Agassi when the American reached No. 1 at 33 years and 4 months in September 2003.
Roger is currently competing in an ATP 500 event in Rotterdam, Netherlands and needed to reach at least the semifinals to dethrone Rafael Nadal from the top of the world rankings. The Swiss certainly didn’t disappoint and defeated local star Robin Haase with the score of 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 to book a spot in the semis.
Among all of the incredible records that Federer has achieved in his legendary career, reaching world No. 1 at 36 years of age will be probably the most difficult record to break. I would say almost impossible.
“Becoming world No. 1 is the pinnacle of our sport, and the older you get the more you have to work for it. It is a dream come true for me and the fact that it happened at this tournament is extra special. Rotterdam was the first event ever to offer me a wild card when I was a teen-ager,” Roger said with almost tears in his eyes during his post-match press conference.
Rafael Nadal will try to recapture the No. 1 spot in the next few weeks. The Spaniard is supposed to play an ATP 500 event in Acapulco before joining his rival at Indian Wells, where Roger is the defending champion.
Mathematically speaking, Federer will sit at the top of the world rankings for at least two more weeks, which will take his total count to 304 weeks. Roger is followed by Sampras with 286 weeks, Lendl with 270, Connors with 268, Djokovic with 223, McEnroe with 170 and Nadal with 167.
Federer’s first stint at No. 1 lasted from February 2, 2004 to August 17, 2007; the second from July 6, 2009 to June 6, 2010 and the third from July 9, 2012 to November 4, 2012. The 5 years and 106 days gap between November 4, 2012 and February 19, 2018 is the longest in tennis history.
The only record that Roger probably won’t be able to beat is John McEnroe’s 14 stints at No. 1.
So far in his career, Federer has won 96 titles including 20 Grand Slams and contested an astonishing 145 finals including 30 at Grand Slam level. He reached at least the semifinals 193 times and 43 of those occurred in Grand Slam events with a record of 30 wins and 13 losses.
What the numbers can’t describe is the majestic elegance and pure class of the greatest champion of all time and one of the most magnificent characters in sports’ history.
(Article translation provided by T&L Global – Translation & Language Solutions – www.t-lglobal.com )
