Roger Federer may have to defeat three-time grand slam champion Stan Wawrinka if he wants to reclaim the world No.1 position at the upcoming Rotterdam Open.
The 20-time grand slam champion has taken a wildcard into the event in what will be his ninth appearance at the Ahoy Rotterdam, venue of the tournament. Federer currently trails Rafael Nadal by 145 poin`ts in the race to the top of the Emirates rankings. He will dethrone Nadal from the top if he reaches the semifinal or better in Rotterdam.
Getting his campaign underway against a yet to be confirmed qualifier, Federer could face a daunting task in the second round. Awaiting him will be either Karen Khachanov or Philipp Kohlschreiber. Khachanov tested Federer in the Hopman Cup earlier this year and recently reached the quarter-finals of the Open Sud De France.
“He mixed up the play well, so it was a tough match for me.” The 36-year-old said about his last encounter with the Russian world No.49.
Tour veteran Kohlschreiber is also not a pushover, but has never defeated Federer in their 12 meetings on the tour since 2005.
Should the tournament go according to the seeds, Federer will play for the No.1 spot against compatriot Stan Wawrinka. Who recently returned to the tour from knee surgery. Should Federer win his quarter-final match, he would become the oldest ATP No.1 in history. Breaking Andre Agassi’s previous record of 33 years and 131 days. Federer is the only player to spend over 300 weeks as world No.1.
Roger Federer's path in Rotterdam:
R1 Qualifier
R2 Kohlschreiber/Khachanov
QF Wawrinka/Haase*
SF Zverev
F Dimitrov/Goffin* a win in the QFs would make him return to World No. 1
— Gaspar Ribeiro Lança (@gasparlanca) February 9, 2018
Elsewhere at the tournament, second seed Grigor Dimitrov will start against Japan’s Yuichi Sugita. Dimitrov recently pulled out of the Sofia Open due to a shoulder problem. Alexander Zverev will take on David Ferrer and defending champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga opens up against a qualifier.
Federer will play his first round match on Wednesday evening at 7:30 pm local time (UTC+01:00).
Full draw
Main Draw ATP Rotterdam / @abnamrowtt
QF
– 🇨🇭 Federer VS Wawrinka 🇨🇭
– 🇩🇪 A. Zverev VS Tsonga 🇫🇷
– 🇨🇿 Berdych VS Goffin 🇧🇪
– 🇫🇷 Pouille VS Dimitrov 🇧🇬 pic.twitter.com/AsI88hgFOd— Ubitennis (@Ubitennis) 9 February 2018
