At the age of 36, Roger Federer is now one win away from reclaiming the top ranking for the first time in six years.
Federer downed Philipp Kohlschreiber, 7-6 (8), 7-5 in one hour, 42 minutes, on Wednesday to advance to the quarterfinals of the ABN AMRO tournament. He is now 13-0 against Kohlschreiber.
Top seed Federer, the 2005 and 2012 champion, trailed 2-5 and saved two set points in a tense first set tiebreak before prevailing. The Swiss superstar must now beat a Dutchman, Robin Haase or wild card Tallon Griekspoor, on Friday at the Rotterdam Ahoy to return to the summit of men’s professional tennis for the first time in more than five years and become the oldest player to rank No. 1. Federer will replace his old rival Rafael Nadal at No. 1 if he reaches the semifinals at the indoor tournament. By achieving the feat, he would also become the oldest top-ranked male player. Andre Agassi holds the record, at 33 years, 133 days old. Federer owns a record 20 career Grand Slam titles, winning his 20th at the Australian Open last month. (The AP & ATP contributed reporting; Photo: AP)Roger Federer improves to 13-0 against Kohlschreiber and is now one win from reclaiming the world No. 1 pic.twitter.com/pXXRAXuYYq
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) February 15, 2018
