There are not too many tennis records still out there that Roger Federer does not own.
One of those few will belong to him next week.
At 33 years and 13 days old, Andre Agassi is the oldest player to have ever been ranked No. 1 on the ATP Tour. Agassi won’t be close to the record come Monday. That will soon go to the 36-year-old Federer, who clinched a return trip to the top spot thanks to his 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 victory over Robin Haase in the quarterfinals of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament on Friday night. The 20-time Grand Slam champion recovered from a slow start to soar past Haase in one hour and 19 minutes.
For a brief moment it looked like Federer’s No. 1 bid would be in jeopardy. Haase got off to a strong start in front of his Dutch fans, digging out of a 0-40 hole early in the proceedings before eventually breaking serve with a cross-court forehand passing shot at 4-4. The world No. 42 held easily at 5-4 to wrap up the opening frame of play.
Haase, however, never came close to finishing off the upset attempt. In fact, Federer dropped only two games the entire rest of the way–raising his own level as his opponent began to struggle physically in the final set. It ended on a Haase double-fault fault, just his second of the match.
“What an amazing run it’s been and a journey it’s been for me throughout,” Federer told the crowd during an on-court ceremony. “So to clinch world No. 1 again this following Monday here in Rotterdam really means a lot to me. So thank you very much, everybody.
“I think reaching No. 1 is one of, if not the ultimate achievement in our sport. So sometimes at the beginning you just all of a sudden get there just because you’re playing so well. Later you sometimes try to fight it back and you wrestle it back from somebody else who deserved to be there. And when you’re older, you know you feel like you have to put maybe sometimes double the work in. So this one maybe means the most to me throughout my career, getting to No. 1 and enjoying it right here at 36, almost 37 years old. (It) is an absolute dream come true; I can’t believe it.”
Highlights:
Next up for Federer is a semifinal showdown against lucky loser Andreas Seppi on Saturday. The head-to-head series stands at 13-1 in favor of the soon-to-be world No. 1, who has won three straight against the Italian since getting upset at the 2015 Australian Open. Federer prevailed three times later that season–in Indian Wells, Halle, and on the indoor hard courts of Paris.
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congrats, Fed
Two other records that Fed has a shot at include most titles (currently Connors at 109; Fed 97) and most ATP victories (Connors, 1256; Fed 1144).
If Roger stays healthy and plays through 2020 I think both records are likely to fall to him. There’s a chance that he could even capture the titles record next year, if he continues his current form.
Of course, winning a calendar slam would trump either of those, even if it wouldn’t technically be any kind of record (except first player to win each slam at least twice.)