FEDERER WINS AGAIN IN LONDON, BUT NOT THINKING ABOUT NO. 1 RANKING DOWN THE ROAD • OR IS HE?

Written by: on 16th November 2017
ATP World Tennis Finals in London
FEDERER WINS AGAIN IN LONDON, BUT NOT THINKING ABOUT NO. 1 RANKING DOWN THE ROAD • OR IS HE?

epa06333342 Switzerland's Roger Federer in action against Croatia's Marin Cilic during his Round Robin match at the ATP World tennis finals in London, Britain, 16 November 2017. EPA-EFE/ANDY RAIN  |
By Ricky DimonRoger Federer isn’t thinking about a return trip to the No. 1 ranking in the world.

Perhaps he should.

Closer to Rafael Nadal than he thinks–or cares to admit–he is, Federer picked up 200 more points when he defeated Marin Cilic 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-1 in his last round-robin match of this year’s Nitto ATP World Tour Finals on Thursday afternoon. The 36-year-old fired 17 aces and saved the only break point he faced before prevailing in one hour and 54 minutes.

With ranking 600 points in London thanks to his trio of Group B victories, Federer is now 1040 points behind Nadal–who lost to David Goffin in his tournament opener and then withdrew. The Swiss can gain 900 more points (400 with a semifinal win and 500 with a final win) and go into 2018 a mere 140 short of Nadal.

But he isn’t thinking about the top spot.

“I have 2,000 points to defend in Australia; he doesn’t,” Federer explained. “So there’s the problem already. I know he has a lot of points to defend, too, but not as many as me. That’s why I always said it’s not a realistic goal in some ways, world No. 1. It’s the ultimate achievement in tennis in some ways–it always has been for me. But at this age, it just can’t be because I think I’ll make mistakes if I start chasing it. I’m not sure how much the body allows me to chase goals like this.

“Still far away from being close in the points with Rafa. Still need to win this tournament before it’s actually really close.”

Winning the tournament would give Federer his eighth title of the season, which includes victories at the Australian Open and Wimbledon. Nadal, meanwhile, also captured to Grand Slams among his six titles.

“The year played out the way it did, and Rafa was better,” Federer admitted. “He deserves to be there. I’m really happy for him because he had a rough season, as well, in ’16. It’s great for him.”

Nadal was better–at times–but also played more. The Spaniard wrapped up his year with 78 matches under his belt. Federer has played 55 so far. But the 19-time major champion has no regrets about his schedule, which featured zero weeks of the clay-court swing.

“I don’t have any,” Federer said. “But maybe losing to Tommy Haas (in Suttgart) and (Evgeny) Donskoy (in Dubai) ended up haunting me. I had match points in both matches.”


Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.

Topics: , , , , , , ,








10sBalls Top Stories

In Case You Missed It

EUGENIE BOUCHARD NAMED 2018 TENNIS CANADA FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR / EUGENIE BOUCHARD NOMMÉE JOUEUSE DE L’ANNÉE 2018 DE TENNIS CANADA thumbnail

EUGENIE BOUCHARD NAMED 2018 TENNIS CANADA FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR / EUGENIE BOUCHARD NOMMÉE JOUEUSE DE L’ANNÉE 2018 DE TENNIS CANADA

Tennis Canada announced on Wednesday that Eugenie Bouchard is the winner of the 2018 Excellence Awards in the Female Player of the Year and Singles Player of the Year categories.
TENNIS NEWS • CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS • TOMMY HAAS, TAYLOR FRITZ, STEVE JOHNSON, MARDY FISH AND MORE thumbnail

TENNIS NEWS • CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS • TOMMY HAAS, TAYLOR FRITZ, STEVE JOHNSON, MARDY FISH AND MORE

Time to get tickets to watch! Surly you have heard about The Largest Open Tennis Event in America!
TENNIS NEWS • RAFA NADAL CONFIRMS RETURN TO PRACTICE, EYES ABU DHABI EXHIBITION AND AUSTRALIAN SUMMER thumbnail

TENNIS NEWS • RAFA NADAL CONFIRMS RETURN TO PRACTICE, EYES ABU DHABI EXHIBITION AND AUSTRALIAN SUMMER

According to Uncle Toni, Rafael Nadal was supposed to be back at practice on either Dec. 4 or 5. Well, better late than never!
Conchita Martínez prepara la temporada 2019 de Karolina Pliskova en Tenerife thumbnail

Conchita Martínez prepara la temporada 2019 de Karolina Pliskova en Tenerife

Española y checa ya trabajaron juntas durante el pasado Open de Estados Unidos
ALEJANDRO’S FAVORITE PHOTOS FOR 10SBALLS FROM SOME OF THIS YEAR’S TOURNAMENTS thumbnail

ALEJANDRO’S FAVORITE PHOTOS FOR 10SBALLS FROM SOME OF THIS YEAR’S TOURNAMENTS

Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia hits a forehand to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia during her second round match at the Nature Valley International tennis tournament in Eastbourne, Great Britain, on Tuesday, June 26, 2018.