Numero uno: Roger Federer claims extraordinary new piece of history

Swiss tennis player Roger Federer carries the Australian Open trophy and greets fans during his arrival at Zurich Airport, in Kloten, Switzerland. Photo / AP

Roger Federer steadied the ship after a near-disastrous start to the match he had to win to reclaim the world number one spot.

Federer dropped the first set of his quarterfinal against world No. 42 Robin Haase at Rotterdam but played flawlessly from that point to claim a 4-6 6-1 6-1 victory.

"Reaching number one is if not one of, the ultimate achievement in our sport," Federer said.

"When you're older you feel like you have to put double the work in, so this one maybe means more to me than any other ... it's a dream come true, I can't believe it."

Of all the records the Swiss maestro broke or extended with his return to the world No. 1 tennis ranking, one in particular stands out.

Federer will reclaim the top spot after a record gap of five years and 106 days when rankings are updated on Monday.

At age 36, he will overtake Andre Agassi as the oldest No. 1 by three years.

Roger Federer is the oldest-ever ATP #1 one year after Serena Williams made history as oldest-ever WTA #1. Quite an era for this sport.

— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) February 16, 2018

He will also extend his record for total weeks at the peak to 303.

But surely even more remarkable will be the record gap of 14 years and 17 days between the time he first became world No. 1 and his latest return.

The previous best for that mark is nine years and 184 days by incumbent and great career rival Rafael Nadal.

Apparently I'm the oldest tennis player with a #1️⃣ ranking. Somebody might have mentioned that to me already but I had a hard time hearing 👴🏻

— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) February 16, 2018

To be able to be the top player in his sport across that unprecedented time span — when combined with his record 20 grand slam titles earned between 2003 and 2018 — illustrates the true greatness of a player considered the best of all time.

Playing his first tournament since claiming his sixth Australian Open title, Federer moved within touching distance one of the No. 1 spot with a 7-6 (10-8) 7-5 defeat of fellow veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber in the second round in Rotterdam, to set up the quarter-final clash with Haase.

"Tonight was complicated, I had to fight and struggle," Federer said. "I had a good game plan going in, but I was never able to completely pull it off.

"This is an exciting challenge, I've struggled to try and get there. I had to win a lot of matches last year.

"I never imagined this after my (February 2016) knee surgery. Number one is a tough place to get to."

Since breaking down again at Wimbledon in 2016, Federer has won eight titles, including three grand slams, while winning 61 matches and suffering just five defeats.

"I would have had great regrets if I had not come here this week," Federer said. "I'm very excited for tomorrow's match, I can't wait for it to come around."

FEDERER'S NEW HISTORY

Total weeks as world No. 1: 1 Roger Federer 303 2 Pete Sampras 286 3 Ivan Lendl 270

Oldest No. 1s in men's rankings history: 1 Roger Federer, 36, on 19 February 2018 2 Andre Agassi, 33, on 7 September 2003 3 Rafael Nadal, 31, on 18 February 2018

Longest Gap Between Stints as No. 1: 1 Roger Federer 5 years, 106 days 2 Andre Agassi 3 years, 142 days (1996-99) 3 Jimmy Connors 3 years, 65 days

Longest Gap Between first and most recent day as No. 1: 1 Roger Federer 14 years, 17 days 2 Rafael Nadal 9 years, 184 days 3 Jimmy Connors 8 years, 339 days.

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