Roger Federer's resurgent 2014 season to culminate in race for No. 1 ranking
Race to the top heats up
This month, the word “Swiss” has been in the news for all the wrong reasons except for one – the resurgence of the Swiss maestro.
The fact that this season hasn’t been one of Federer’s best is obvious; with just five singles titles so far and no majors to show, it's not quite been a “Federer” kind of year. His five final defeats have added to the general perception that age may finally be catching up with the 17-time Grand Slam title winner. After all, 33 isn’t exactly young in tennis years; just ask Nikolay Davydenko.
It’s been almost two years since Federer was last ranked No. 1, and he’s probably in the waning days of a nonetheless glorious career, right?
Wrong. What Federer has proved this year is nothing short of amazing. His 66-10 win-loss record translates to a 86.84% season rate (singles), and he has the most wins on the tour so far. He is also one of only five players over-30 in the past 30 years (since 1984) to win 50 or more matches in a season. That’s not half bad for a father of four (a doubles record in itself).
The question on every tennis aficionado’s mind is whether Federer can return to the top of the ATP rankings at the end of this season. His win in Basel oozed confidence, and his brilliant form would surely come as a threat to top-ranked Novak Djokovic, who is less than 500 points away in the ATP Race to London.
Close finish expected in London
The Paris Masters will play a crucial role in deciding the year-end rankings. The latter half of the season has seen a lacklustre Stan Wawrinka, who lost his third-straight Basel Indoors first round match. The promising start at the Australian Open has faded away with his confidence tumbling downward on the hardcourts in US and Europe.
It would be fair to point out that this season has been troublesome for third-ranked Rafael Nadal. Federer’s fierce rival hasn’t been in the best of form after his French Open win. His appendicitis and subsequent shock loss to 17-year-old Borna Coric in Basel coerced him into prematurely ending his season, thus ensuring a relatively smooth road ahead for Federer.
Djokovic had been riding high after defeating Federer at Wimbledon and the birth of his son Stefan, but surely his straight sets loss to Roger at the Shanghai Rolex Masters semifinal this month indicates that an upset could be on the cards.
It could very well be said that Federer has the best chance to be ranked No. 1 at the end of this season. With Djokovic as his only foreseeable threat, the Swiss could add another feather to his cap by becoming the oldest player to be ranked at the top, a record currently held by Andre Agassi.
With three fathers amongst the top five players this season, it's going to be exciting to see which of the two dads is perched on top at the end of the year.