ON THIS DAY: Roger Federer appears on the ATP rankings for the first time, 23 years ago


ON THIS DAY: Roger Federer appears on the ATP rankings for the first time, 23 years ago
Roger Federer

On this day 23 years ago, Roger Federer made his first appearance in the ATP rankings. Roger Federer, as a 16-year-old teenager back then, scored 12 points at the Switzerland Masters Satellites in Bossonnens, ranking him 803 in the world. In 1996, Roger Federer, still 15 years old tried qualifying for two satellite tournaments in Switzerland with no success. The tournament in Bossonnens was his first tournament in which he was part of the main draw.

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Four Events were played in 1997 on outdoor clay in which Roger Federer had participated. Federer made 2 semifinals before losing to 2nd seed Daniele Balducci and the 1st seed Agustin Garizzio. Federer lost in the quarterfinal of another tournament losing to Yves Allegro, with whom he played doubles at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Federer scored a total of 8 wins during the month at Bossonnens, ending the year ranked at 704.

The talented Swiss youngster broke into the Top 100 in 1999, entered the Top 20 in February 2001 before making his way into the Top 10 in 2002 following his first Master’s title win at Hamburg. He narrowly missed out on a chance to become World No.1 in 2002 against Lleyton Hewitt whom he lost in 5 sets in spite of winning the first 2 sets at the Davis Cup. Federer later said that the loss against Hewitt was the toughest of his career.

Federer, eventually claimed the World No.1 title he was destined for after winning his second Grandslam at the Australian Open 2004, starting an unimaginable streak of 237 consecutive weeks at the top.

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Almost a quarter of a century later and with 20 Grandslams, Federer still ranks in the Top-5

Roger Federer is still ranked in the Top 5, 23 years after his first ATP ranking

Ever since he burst onto the big stage in 1997, Roger Federer was destined for big things. Almost a quarter of a century later, Federer is still ranked in the Top 5 of the ATP rankings which is truly an incredible feat. Federer holds the record for 310 weeks as the World number 1 with Novak Djokovic just behind him at 287 weeks. Last time Federer was ranked World number 1, it was in 2018 at the age of 36.

In his illustrious career, Roger Federer has won a record of 20 Grandslam titles and has played over 1500 singles matches on tour. Roger Federer is truly one of the greats of the games, playing tennis at the highest level for the past 23 years.

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Last time, Federer was in action it was at the Australian Open 2020 semifinal which he lost to the eventual champion in straight sets. Due to his right knee injury for which he had a surgery, Federer decided to give the rest of 2020 tour a skip in order to return fresh for the 2020 season. Tennis fans across the world would want to watch Federer return at the Australian Open 2021.

Also Read: Technology proves that Roger Federer is the ‘GOAT’ of tennis, ahead of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic

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