Roger Federer en route to the number one spot again – Tennis Special
Swiss Maestro, Roger Federer, reclaimed the world number two spot this week after conquering the Mutua Madrid Open 2012, a blue clay court event taking place in Madrid. He is now eyeing to capture his 21st Masters 1000 crown at the Internazionali BNL D’Italia but is also bidding for the top spot at the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) rankings.
The 16-time Grand Slam champion, Federer is enjoying an amazing on-going circuit as he lifted four titles this season and jumped to the number two rank at the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings. He secured a semi-final berth at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open and the Australian Open before falling to John Isner at the Davis Cup.
The Swiss veteran re-ignited his spark after that and went on a 17-match winning streak which saw him lifting three titles. Federer ruled the ABN AMRO World Tennis Championship, Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship (he conquered his entire rivals without losing a set at this hard court event) and the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells before losing to Andy Roddick at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.
Federer then took the whole April off before starting his clay court campaign at the Madrid Masters 1000 event. He unleashed flurry of groundstrokes to outclass his several seeded opponents before clicking the tournament.
"It’s been a great spell and I couldn’t be more happy right now coming off a break winning right away," said the Jubilant Swiss. "It’s always an ideal scenario for what’s to come."
The 30-year-old was about to exit by Canada’s Milos Raonic in his opening match. However, he stayed focused and overpowered the Canadian youngster in a three-set thriller. Federer then stomped over some top seeded players like Richard Gasquet, David Ferrer and Janko Tipsarevic in straight sets before setting up a date with the Czech number one, Tomas Berdych.
Seeded third in the tournament, Federer made a sluggish start and suffered the first blow early on to fall at 0-2. He eventually gifted away the opener with a 3-6 defeat. However, the Swiss made a fitting reply and despite squandering a set point, he pulled out the equaliser with another break of serve. Federer kept momentum floating in the final set and ultimately sealed the deal with a 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 victory to steal the show.
"It was tough. I was almost down the entire time," Federer was quoted in a press conference after triumphing over the Czech. "Finally I got the break in the third, and then he broke back. Things got tough again. I played great. It's always special winning a title 7-5 in the third. The crowd was amazing so I'm very happy."
The Basel native, who is eyeing for his 75th career title in Rome, will square off against Argentina’s Carlos Berlocq in the round of 32. Federer is aiming to snatch the number one spot from Novak Djokovic and is looking forward to close the gap after ruling at Rome Masters.
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