Roger Federer gracefully applauds the new world number one Novak Djokovic – Tennis News
New rankings list issued on Monday by the Association of Tennis Professionals has displaced the Swiss Maestro, Roger Federer, as the number one player in the world and reinstated the 25-year-old Serb, Novak Djokovic, as the best
player in the world of tennis. The defeat in the finale of the Swiss Indoors Basel and the withdrawal from the Master tour in Paris assisted in Federer’s ranking shift. The 31-year-old Swiss has no doubt about the Djokovic’s number one spot and clearly accepted
the Serb as the better player.
Federer commented, “We know who the real number one is. It is going to be Novak. I do not think there should be any debate around about that. You do not get to number one by chance. The rankings are something that shows how you
have played over a 365-day period. It might all change again in two months at the Australian Open but right now it is clear. I obviously gave it everything I had. This is a full-on process. That obviously takes a lot of sacrifice. For the time being I'm willing
to do all of that. So I'm putting my schedule into place for next year and there are no extraordinary changes.”
The Swiss legend started the season in Doha and withdrew in the semi-final of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open. He reached the semi-final of the Australian Open and won the maiden title of the season by defeating the former US Open Champion,
Juan Martin Del Potro, in the final of the ABN AMRO at Rotterdam. Dubai Duty Free Championships and BNP Paribas at Indian Wells were also bagged by Federer in the month of March.
The domination continued at the Mutua Madrid Open that yielded fourth title for the Swiss. Djokovic halted Federer on two successive semi-finals in Rome and the French Open to deny him more titles. Moreover, the major upset by
Tommy Haas in the final of the Gerry Weber Open enhanced the misery of the Swiss. However, all the grieves were washed away at the All England Lawn Tennis Club when the second ranked Swiss lifted the Wimbledon Championships trophy for the seventh time in his
career. He claimed the number one spot with that victory as well.
Andy Murray denied Federer from winning the maiden singles gold medal at Olympics and the sixth seed Czech star, Tomas Berdych, halted him in the quarter-final of the US Open. However, Federer did win his sixth title of the season
at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. The third ranked Briton, Andy Murray, and the second seed Del Potro denied the Swiss from titles in Shanghai Rolex Masters and Swiss Indoors Basel respectively. The withdrawal from the Master tour in Paris was
good enough for Djokovic to reclaim the number one spot.
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