Roger Federer is one win away from No. 1.
Next Monday, Federer will become the oldest-ever top-ranked player in ATP Tour history if he beats Robin Haase in the quarterfinals of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament on Friday night. The 36-year-old would break the age record currently held by Andre Agassi, who was 33 the last time he held the No. 1 spot.
Only a third career meeting with Robin Haase stands in Federer’s way. The head-to-head series stands at 2-0 in favor of the 20-time Grand Slam champion, who cruised 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 in a clay-court Davis Cup tie in the Netherlands five years ago and also prevailed 6-3, 7-6(5) in the Montreal semifinals last summer.
Federer’s summer was highlighted by another triumph at Wimbledon, which gave him two major titles in 2017 and put him in contention for the No. 1 ranking in the latter stages of the season. The Swiss did not quit get there, but thanks to more outstanding play–including a successful Australian Open title defense–he is once again on the brink. Federer has improved to 9-0 this year with straight-set victories this week over Ruben Bemelmans and Philipp Kohlschreiber.
“I played at the Australian Open not thinking about the rankings, but I knew I had the flexibility in February over my calendar,” Rotterdam’s top seed explained. “After the Australian Open was over, I thought I’d love to play Rotterdam and give it a go…. You have to do it, not because it’s the right thing to do, but you have to be here with all your heart and really go for it. Try my very best. Having the option of getting to number one is highly motivating and very exciting to say the least.”
This is a big match, too, for Haase in front of the home fans. The 42nd-ranked Dutchman booked his spot in the last eight of this 500-point tournament by taking out countrymen Thiemo De Bakker and Tallon Griekspoor in easy straight sets. Haase has played at every opportunity this season and is sporting a decent 7-6 record for his efforts, with a quarterfinal performance in Pune and a semifinal showing in Auckland.
Federer was not at his absolute best against Kohlschreiber during a hard-fought 7-6(8), 7-5 victory on Thursday, so the door may be ever-so-slightly open for Haase. Like the German, however, Haase often struggles on big points and that will likely be his downfall even if he simply does well enough to be somewhat competitive against Federer.
Pick: Federer in 2 losing 8-10 games
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WYG?
I don’t think this match will be as tough as the last one for Fed. Haase really needs his serve to be at its best to have a shot. He also tends to be a slow starter, which will do him no favours against Roger.
Fed in 2, 6-2, 6-4
Haase in 3
Fed in two competitive sets, say 76 64.
Fed in two tight ones. If it goes three, I favour Haase over Fed just down to the nerves of possibly losing the chance of becoming number one
Olly, are you actually picking Federer to win a match?!
I’m now genuinely worried.
I picked him for Wimbledon 2017, US Open 2017, WTF 2017, Montreal 2017, Miami 2017. I picked him for many tournaments.
Anything can happen in this crucial match.
It is about mental
Love the voting results so far! GOAT!!!!!
Fed is already once again struggling to covert break points. He’s 0 for 3 in only the first few games.
He is not playing well… I think the nerves over getting to #1 are getting to him more than he’d like.
Yep, Haase is serving for first set! Fed may need to wait until Dubai if he wants to get to #1!
If he Fed loses tonight (think Fed will steamroll the next two sets), he will be number one in 2 weeks in Rafa fails to reach the Acapulco final
If he loses to Haase, I am certain he will play Dubai, and he’s only defending 45 points there, so he may be able to reach #1 in Dubai even if Rafa wins the title in Acapulco.
Fed is up 3-0 in the second set against Haase, so it appears to still be a match.
Wow, you weren’t kidding Olly- Fed steamrolled through this 2nd set.
It’s a pity that Haase got injured. He would have won the match.
Ha. Ok…
Please explain to me how you can prove this as you seem so sure that the new world number one would have lost to Robin Haase just because he lost the first set. Also explain to me how this is your first comment after such an historic moment in the sport of tennis. Actually I think I know the answer to both… #SaltyRafanAlert
Benny G AT 8:06 PM,
Hmm. Why should I explain you my posting frequency ?!
It doesn’t necessarily mean Haase would have won, but he definitely would have made it much tougher for Roger. Haase was clearly struggling in the second and third set. But of course, it’s Roger, so he still would have probably won either way.
Roger just had a few nerves in the first set. Would have calmed down and won either way. Haase could have made slam finals in 2000-07 (along with just about anyone else in the Top 50).
#HaaseBeenNeverWas
#RememberJohansson
#TWE2.0
#GoldenEraRIP
NUMBER ONE AGAIN!! 😅 😅 So happy for him!! Oldest ever number one. Just unbelievable. One of a kind player. Congrats Roger!!
Congrats Benny! I’m so happy for you, man! It’s been a long road for your boy, and he’s worked his ass off to get back to #1. Well deserved… Crazy to think that both Fed and Rafa were written off sometime in the last few years, and they both proved everyone wrong. Unbelievable…
Facts as always Kev!! Thanks man!!
Well done Roger, I’m a fan of Rafa but Roger has worked hard for this. However, Roger will almost definitely lose points in IW and Miami. This means that IW will be crucial for Rafa as he lost R4 last year to 2017 so he can pig up LOTS of points to get back to #1 which will most likely happen anyway before the clay season
The king is back!
Yesssssssssssss!
Roger Federer will win Indian Wells and Miami like he did last year.
He defeated Rafa in both tournaments.
Think he should skip Miami. But no I’m sorry, Fed will most likely not win both of them. Either way Fed can’t pick up points so if Rafa gets to the final in IW, he’s world number one!
Rafa is still the oldest YE #1.
Exactly, Fed didn’t break any of Rafa’s records tonight
#MatterOfTIme
#TWE2.0
#GoldenEraRIP
Tennis Magazine:
(Translated from French by Microsoft)
Roger federer: “It’s a dream come true, I can’t believe it”
https://twitter.com/TennisMagazine1/status/964592534302453760?
Hmm. But just a day ago, I read this article in which the author says the opposite (and bashes Rafa, as Fed’s supporters usually do):
¤¤ Roger Federer ‘does not care’ about being world No 1 but Rafael Nadal does…¤¤
https://www.express.co.uk/sport/tennis/918928/Roger-Federer-world-No-1-Rafael-Nadal-news
Same way Roger finally won Davis Cup. Decided to enter after Djokovic and Nadal pulled out.
While the main cats are away as they say… the pretend GOAT will play.
It’s now official.
#TWE2.0
#GoldenEraRIP
I hope Fed skips the clay season again because he can only gain points there and I hope Rafa stays fit enough to defend his clay points then Fed will not have much opportunity to gain points until after Wimbledon but he might decide to play Dubai, after that he will be riding on empty until Canada.
Roger has confirmed he will NOT play Dubai
Link?
I think Roger has to be the favourite to finish YE #1 at this point, even if he doesn’t play on clay again.
Last year, Fed won IW, Miami, Halle, Wimbledon, and Shanghai -about 5500 points. Rafa won almost everything on clay, USO, Beijing (about 7000 points), plus a few runner-ups.
Going forward, I think both men will be hard pressed to repeat those results this year, but I think Fed is likely to come closer. In particular, I think it is unlikely that Rafa will do *as well* on clay this year, and unlikely that he will win USO again.
Congrats to Fed on becoming the #1 player in the world at 36!