February 2, 2004: Roger Federer conquers ATP throne for the first time
The future of tennis looked very promising at the beginning of the new millennium, with the players like Lleyton Hewitt, Marat Safin, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Andy Roddick and Roger Federer who were there to compete against the "old school" masters like Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi. Safin won the US Open at the age of 20 and Hewitt became the youngest world number in history also at the age of 20, just waiting for Roger Federer to burst onto the scene and show his tremendous talent. The progress of the super talented Swiss was a little bit slower but also steady as a rock, improving both his game and ranking position by each month spent on the Tour.
Roger won his first Masters 1000 title in Hamburg in 2002 to enter the top-10 for the first time on the next day, never leaving that group between October 2002 and November 2016! Federer made a breakthrough season in 2003, winning seven titles, including his first Major at Wimbledon, and Masters Cup, heading into 2004 just behind Andy Roddick. The gap between two youngsters was not that big and they were battling for the number 1 spot already at the Australian Open. Marat Safin spoiled the American's plans and Roger conquered the ATP throne after a semi-final win over Juan Carlos Ferrero in straight sets.
Furthermore, the Swiss went all the way to win his first Australian Open title when he defeated Safin in the final, achieving two great honors within a day. On February 2, 2004, Federer became the dominant figure on the court for the following four and a half years, standing at the top of the men's tennis world with only one serious rival who managed to dethrone him in the summer of 2008. With those 1000 points from Melbourne, Roger was now firmly in front of Juan Carlos Ferrero and Andy Roddick, with his consistency forging that gap although he still struggled to make an impact on the regular basis at Masters 1000 events.
Roger played 95 matches in 2003 and that number was reduced to 80 in 2004, winning 11 titles (including three Masters 1000 events) from 17 tournaments he entered and placing the bar too high for any of his followers. Mighty relieved after gaining that world no. 1 spot as the 23rd player since 1973 who did that, Roger transformed himself into a machine always ready to give its best on the court, picking his schedule carefully and staying miles in front of all the opponents. He was the player to beat for 237 consecutive weeks before the summer of 2008 when Nadal managed to improve his game outside clay and challenge Roger for the ATP throne.
More than 14 years after he became the best player in the world, Federer did that again last season, cementing his outstanding consistency and setting the record that will be tough to match in the future. The essential ranking milestones in Roger's early career:
22.9 1997 - Roger enters the ATP rankings at the age of 16, just outside the top-800 8.2 1999 - Place in the top-200 at the age of 17 20.9 1999 - Roger cracks the top-100 for the first time 6.3 2000 - Place in the top-50 26.2 2001 - Top-20 debut 20.5 2002 - Roger enters the top-10 at the age of 20 27.1 2003 - Top-five debut 2.2 2004 - Federer becomes the world no. 1 at the age of 22
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2UzpLrJ
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