Federer sets sights on regaining top ranking
There’s only one number that counts for Roger Federer and that’s numero uno.
If there were any doubts the 16-time Grand Slam champion was itching to take back top spot in the ATP rankings from great rival Rafael Nadal, then Federer erased them in Stockholm yesterday.
Speaking to reporters in the Swedish capital, where Federer is due to play in the Stockholm Open for the first time since 2000, the world No. 2 made his position clear.
"It's not that important to be two, three or four," Federer stated. "For me it's either No. 1 in the world or everything else.”
“After being No. 1 for so long and having been there it's obviously the best feeling to be there. When you're not ranked No. 1 in the world you obviously try to get back there."
And that must surely be the rub for Federer: he has been at the top of the tennis tree for a massive 285 weeks in his decorated career, but when Nadal snatched the No. 1 ranking back from the Swiss star at the start of June he also left Federer stranded tantalisingly short of adding yet another record to the swag that he already calls his own.
Pete Sampras, the man who until Wimbledon 2009 held the record for winning the most Grand Slam men’s singles titles, was ranked as the world No. 1 for just a week longer than Federer has been.
Sampras’ record of 286 weeks at the top was within touching distance for Federer when as defending champion he crashed out of the French Open in the quarter-finals as Nadal went on to reclaim the crown he’d already won four times previously.
And so, for the second time in his career, Federer lost top spot to the Majorcan left-hander and after crashing out in the quarters at Wimbledon dropped to the unfamiliar position of world No. 3.
His run to the final at the Shanghai Masters 1000 last week (where he lost to Andy Murray) restored him to second place but that, one has to suspect, is just a stepping stone for Federer to get back to the world No. 1 spot.
Nadal has the season-ending No. 1 ranking sewn up already after a stellar season that has included three Grand Slam titles, but make no mistake about it, the competition for the world’s top ranking in 2011 has already begun.
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