Roger Federer will be at least the World Number Two next week – Tennis News
16-times Grand Slam champion, Roger Federer, had made it to the semi-finals of the Wimbledon yet another time and will face the reigning world number one, Novak Djokovic, for a title shot in the final showdown of the mega event
in London. No matter if the Swiss Maestro losses the semi-final brawl on Friday, he will still get enough ranking points to surpass the current world number two, Rafael Nadal, in the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Rankings.
The next release of the South African Airways ATP Rankings will rate Federer as the new world number two from Monday or even the top ranked player if he manages to win his sixth Wimbledon crown on Sunday. The 30-year-old Basel
native had repeatedly cited that his primary aim is to reclaim the world number one spot this season and this seems to be a perfect opportunity for him to take back his throne.
The Swiss Maestro has been absolutely brilliant throughout his campaign at the All England Club this season but was bothered a bit with a lower back stress in his fourth round battle against Xavier Malisse. However, the world number
three was seen at his best in the quarter-final brawl against the crafty Russian, Mikhail Youzhny, outmuscling him in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2, to book a date with the top seed Serb in the semis.
Federer is currently 625 points below Nadal in the ATP World Rankings and the Spaniard’s second round exit will award him merely 45 ranking points, making a lead of 670 with the Swiss number one. Even if Federer suffers a defeat
at the hands of Djokovic in the semi-final, he will still receive 720 ranking points, taking him the world number two spot in the next release of the ATP men’s ratings.
The third seed Swiss is currently focused on his upcoming challenge in the round of four and he hopes he will hunt down the number one tennis player in the world on his favourite grass surface. He leads 14-12 against Djokovic in
the all-time head-to-head series but none of these 26 matches have been played on a grass court.
“It is interesting that this is our first grass court match,” Federer told commented about his match with Djokovic. “I'm looking forward to it. It's been a good tournament so far for me. I'm happy [that] I'm feeling good again.
It gives me confidence going into a big match against Novak.”
It will be the first time that both these men will face each other on the fastest grass surface at Wimbledon and Federer can be rated as the favourite for winning the classic battle.
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