Roger Federer becomes oldest world No1 after beating Robin Haase

Congratulation Roger  my Tennis Hero Born in July____________________________________________________

• Swiss surpasses Andre Agassi who was ranked top at 33 in 2003

Press Association

Fri 16 Feb 2018 20.40 GMTLast modified on Fri 16 Feb 2018 21.24 GMT

Shares

1,355

Comments

57

 Roger Federer celebrates victory over Robin Haase in the quarter-finals of the World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam. Photograph: John Thys/AFP/Getty Images

Roger Federer became the oldest world No 1 after he beat Robin Haase in the World Tennis Tournament quarter-finals in Rotterdam.

The 36-year-old Swiss, who won his 20th grand slam title last month by claiming a sixth Australian Open, replaced Rafael Nadal at the top of the ATP rankings with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 victory over the Dutchman.

Roger Federer: ‘My philosophy is I play when I’m ready'

 

Read more

“Reaching No 1 is one of, if not the ultimate achievement in our sport,” Federer said afterwards. “Sometimes at the beginning you just kind of get there because you played so well but later you have to fight for it and have to wrestle it back from someone who deserves to be there. When you are older you maybe have to put double the work in. This maybe means the most to me in my career.”

Federer has surpassed Andre Agassi as the oldest player to occupy the summit of the men’s game – the American was 33 when he was last on top in September 2003. Agassi was among the first to congratulate Federer: “Roger Federer continues to raise the bar in our sport. Congratulations on yet another remarkable achievement!!” he said on Twitter.

Federer’s return to the top spot will be formally rubber-stamped when the men’s tour rankings are published on Monday.

Federer also beats the mark set by the record holder in the women’s game, Agassi’s compatriot Serena Williams, who was 35 when she was last No 1 in May 2017.

Since you’re here …

… we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading the Guardian than ever but advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. And unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can. So you can see why we need to ask for your help. The Guardian’s independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our perspective matters – because it might well be your perspective, too.

I appreciate there not being a paywall: it is more democratic for the media to be available for all and not a commodity to be purchased by a few. I’m happy to make a contribution so others with less means still have access to information.Thomasine F-R.