Friday could see Roger Federer once again rewrite history in men’s tennis when he takes on Robin Haase in the quarter-finals of the Rotterdam Open.
The Swiss is just a win away from returning to the top of the rankings in what will be the icing on the cake for a comeback that started 13 months ago when he won the Australian Open. Should Federer win on Friday he won’t be breaking one record, he will be breaking four. Further strengthening his position as one of the all-time greats in the sport.
The oldest ever
At the age of 36, he could become the oldest ever No.1 player. The record currently belongs to Andre Agassi, who topped the rankings at the age of 33 years and 133 days. Rafael Nadal is currently the oldest year-end No.1 after finishing 2017 at the age of 31 years and 211 days.
The biggest gap
The last time Federer held the top spot was back in 2012. Should he return to the position next week, it would be five years and 106 days since he last did so. The longest gap between holding the No.1 rank in the history of men’s tennis.
14 years since it all began
Never in the history of men’s tennis has a player returned to the top of the rankings more than 10 years after they first held the spot. Federer is in line to become the first player to do so. His rise to the top first started on February 2nd 2004. To put this into perspective, world No.4 Alexander Zverev would have been six at the time.
The extension of an all-time record
Federer could increase his record of the most weeks spent as world No.1. The tally currently stands at 302 weeks (five years and 42 weeks). He is the only player so far to break the 300 mark. The next highest is Pete Sampras at 286 weeks.
Federer will take on Haase on Friday evening at the Ahoy Rotterdam. He leads their head-to-head 2-0 and is yet to drop a set. The last meeting occurred in the semifinals of the 2017 Canadian Masters, which the Swiss won 6-3, 7-6(5).
