Roger Federer stands alone in the exclusive 'Club 1000'

The 20-time Major champion Roger Federer is working hard on the practice court, eager to get back at 100% and make a fresh start in 2021. The 39-year-old Swiss has played only one tournament in 2020, undergoing two knee surgeries in February and May but losing nothing of his desire to compete on a high level for a few more years. Thanks to his points from 2019, Roger is still safe in the top-4 behind Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem, earning a massive ranking record on Monday. The Basel native became the first player with 1000 weeks in the top-20, with no other player reaching 900! To crack the top-20 at any point in a career is an impressive feat, the one that becomes legendary if you manage to spend almost 20 years in that group like Roger Federer. In his first complete season on the ATP Tour, Federer made rock-solid progress in 2000, staying in action for more than 30 weeks and collecting 36 wins and two ATP finals in Basel and Marseille.

Moving from outside the top-60 to the top-30, the young Swiss was ready for an even stronger run in 2001, losing finals in Basel and Rotterdam but winning the first ATP crown in Milan. After that, Roger cracked the top-20 for the first time, returning there again in April and never leaving the elite group ever since! Federer had to wait until May 2002 to find himself in the top-10 for the first time after lifting the trophy at Hamburg Masters. Since the spring of 2003, nothing could have stopped him from becoming a regular top-5 player and sitting on the ATP throne for the first time in February 2004 after winning the Australian Open. The rest is pretty much history, and Federer set some outstanding ranking records that will take some beating in the future, competing on a very high level for almost 20 years and still standing in the top-4 despite the fact he turns 39 in August.

Roger Federer became the first player with 1000 weeks in the top-20.

Roger claimed four ATP titles in 2019 and missed a chance to add the ninth Wimbledon trophy to his collection, squandering two match points against Novak Djokovic. Leaving much younger rivals behind him, the Swiss wrapped up the season in the top-3, hoping for another strong run in 2020 before that knee injury that sidelined him for the rest of the season, setting eyes on 2021. Andre Agassi is the second-best player with most weeks in the top-20, standing on 868, eight more than his American compatriot Jimmy Connors. Rafael Nadal is fourth with 792, having to wait for two more months to join the mentioned three players in the 'Club 800.' 

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/324pXoO