Roger Federer takes ranking record away from Andre Agassi, becoming the first..

Roger Federer hasn't played since the last year's Australian Open, struggling with a knee injury and undergoing two surgeries in February and May. Roger had hoped to get ready for the Australian Open that starts in February but had to delay his return for a couple of more weeks, training in Dubai and looking good to hit the court in March. Thanks to his 2019 points, Federer is still ranked inside the top-5, starting his 19th consecutive season in the top-10 and moving in front of Andre Agassi on the ranking record. Federer became the first player in the Open era with 19 seasons between the first and last top-10 appearance, proving his everlasting greatness and hoping to stay in the elite group at the end of the season. Agasi was the leader of the pack with 18 years between the first and last top-10 week (1988-2006), finding himself among the world's leading players following Roland Garros in 1988 and competing on a high level in his final years on the Tour.

Agassi stepped away from the top-10 group just before turning 36 in 2006, almost 18 years after he did that for the first time. Roger Federer found himself in the top-15 after the first Major quarter-final at Roland Garros 2001, needing almost another year to make the next step and earn his place in the top-10. It came in May 2002  following the first Masters 1000 title in Rome, beating Marat Safin in straight sets in the title clash. The young Swiss struggled in the next couple of months and lost his top-10 status, getting it back in October and remaining in the elite company until the end of 2016.

Roger Federer is the first player with 19 years between first and last top-10 week.

Federer had to skip the second part of the season due to a knee injury, bouncing back stronger at the beginning of 2017 to claim the first Major title since 2012 at the Australian Open. Roger was Novak Djokovic's and Rafael Nadal's main rival in 2017, 2018 and 2019, winning four ATP titles two years ago and missing the opportunity to add the ninth Wimbledon to his collection after wasting two match points versus Djokovic in the final.

Hungry for more, Federer kicked off the 2020 season with the semi-final run in Melbourne, battling past John Millman and Tennys Sandgren from the verge of defeat and suffering a straight-sets loss to Novak Djokovic. As it turned out, it was Roger's last official match so far, undergoing those two surgeries and deciding to skip the rest of the year and make a fresh start in 2021. After missing the Australian Open, Roger should focus on Wimbledon, the Olympic Games and the US Open in the rest of the season, still eager to challenge the rivals from the top. 

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3nJC6HW