Federer back to No. 2 despite Shanghai loss
Roger Federer returned to the world No. 2 ranking after finishing as runner-up to Andy Murray at the Shanghai Masters on Sunday.
The 16-time Grand Slam champion, who did not play in the tournament in 2009, gained 600 ranking points as a result of his loss in the final to knock Novak Djokovic down to world No. 3.
That outcome was sealed in the Shanghai semi-finals when Federer defeated Djokovic in straight sets to exact some revenge for that US Open semi-final defeat, including a couple of squandered match points, at the hands of the Serb during September.
While Federer will now be setting his sights on the World Tour Finals in London, the biggest prize left to be claimed this season, at the end of November there will be a few stops along the way where the former world No. 1 will surely be looking to gain valuable ranking points to close the gap (currently a formidable 4545 ranking points) between himself and the world’s current top-ranked player, Rafael Nadal.
Nadal may have already sealed the season-ending No. 1 ranking, but with Federer stranded just one week behind Pete Sampras in the list of players with the most week’s spent in the top ranking (Federer has been world No. 1 for a total of 285 weeks; Sampras held the mantle for 286 weeks) every ranking point will count for the 29-year-old heading into the 2011 season.
While Nadal, with three Grand Slam titles in 2010, has everything to lose next season, Federer’s below par finishes at three of the four majors mean he’s theoretically got everything to gain in 2011 – provided those results weren’t indicative of a insurmountable drop in form. This autumn is his chance to get a head start.
The first stop is the If Stockholm Open, followed by an attempt to reclaim the title Djokovic took from him in the final of the Davidoff Swiss Indoors at home in Basel last year, before the BNP Paribas Masters completes the lead-up to London.
Stockholm should be a sure-fire ranking points accumulator for Federer, who hasn’t played there since 2000, though world No. 5 Robin Soderling will head the list of challengers seeking to deny the reigning Australian Open champion maximum points in his home tournament.
Paris, where 1000 ranking points are available for the winner, could provide a second and even greater rankings bonanza for Federer, who suffered a shock loss to then 49th ranked Julien Benneteau in his opening match at the BNP Paribas Masters last year.
He can’t do worse than that this time around, and the points should flow Federer’s way from now until the end of the season as he bridges the gap on Nadal, ready for another assault at the top next year.
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