Roger Federer may be just one week away from becoming the oldest world No. 1 in the history of the ATP World Tour. That will be the reality of the situation on Monday, Feb. 19 if Federer reaches the semifinals of the upcoming ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament. The Swiss was not expected to play and has not appeared at this event since 2013, but he accepted a late wild card.
Federer is an obvious title favorite, and not just because he is the top seed and reigning Australian Open champion. He has enjoyed a stellar history at this 500-point event on the indoor hard courts of Rotterdam, with a 23-6 record and two titles.
“The tournament is special for me,” said the 36-year-old, who will overtake Rafael Nadal at No. 1 in the world if he wins at least three matches in Rotterdam. “I remember playing for the first time in 1999, as it was one of the first events where I got the chance to play at the highest level. It feels good to join in the celebrations of the 45th edition.”
The 45th edition should be a good one, and not just because of Federer’s presence. Rotterdam’s field of 32 also features Grigor Dimitrov, David Goffin, Alexander Zverev, Stan Wawrinka, Montpellier champion Lucas Pouille, Tomas Berdych, and Andrey Rublev.
Federer will begin his campaign against qualifier Ruben Bemelmans and would then face either Karen Khachanov or Philipp Kohlschreiber. Potential quarterfinal foes for the 20-time major champion–the last players who could stand in his way of the No. 1 ranking–are Wawrinka and Robin Haase. Zverev also finds himself in the top half of the bracket, but he has a long way to go before possibly running into Federer in the semis. The 20-year-old German has a tough first-round test against David Ferrer on Monday.
On the other side of the draw Goffin and Berdych are on a collision course for the quarters. Goffin, the Rotterdam runner-up in 2017, is coming off a semifinal performance in Montpellier. Meanwhile, Dimitrov’s quarter of the bracket includes Pouille, Sofia finalist Maris Copil, and recent Doha runner-up Rublev.
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