Roger Federer writes history as the first player with 750 weeks in the top-3

At the age of 38, Roger Federer is still one of the best players in the world, standing strong against much younger opponents and still fighting for big titles and records. The Swiss veteran is spending the record-breaking 750th week in the top-3, becoming the first player to achieve that since the start of the ATP ranking in 1973, miles in front of Rafael Nadal, Jimmy Connors and Novak Djokovic. In the last 12 months, Roger was the semi-finalist at Roland Garros and finalist at Wimbledon, squandering two match points against Novak Djokovic to stay on 20 Major titles. Federer was the semi-finalist at the Australian Open a couple of weeks ago, suffering another loss to Novak Djokovic but staying in the top-3 ahead of Dominic Thiem who finished runner-up behind the Serb. Struggling with a knee injury, Roger had to undergo surgery ten days ago, skipping Dubai and all the tournaments until Halle in June, including Indian Wells, Miami and Roland Garros.

Claiming the 100th ATP title in Dubai last year, Roger will lose 500 points on Monday, allowing Dominic Thiem to crack the top-3 for the first time and exit the elite group after mind-blowing 750 weeks there, setting the record that will take some beating in the future. Roger had found himself in the top-3 for the first time after lifting the first Major title at Wimbledon almost 17 years ago, staying the dominant figure in men's tennis until the summer of 2008 and remaining in the mentioned group for ten years and skipping only a couple of weeks during that period.

Playing in the final at Wimbledon 2014, Roger kicked off another streak of more than two years in the top-3 to add more weeks to his tally before that knee injury that kept him away from the court in the second part of 2016, returning where he belongs after Wimbledon 2017 and battling with much younger opponents to stand behind Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic since May last year. The future of the Swiss star is uncertain following that nasty injury that will keep him off the court for four months, eager to return at his best and chase big points in Halle and Wimbledon, still having enough points to remain in the top-10. 

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2whwxLX