Roger Federer returns to world No. 1 ranking despite not playing since March 24

By ADAM ZAGORIA

Roger Federer is officially No. 1 in the world again.

The 36-year-old Swiss returned to the top spot in the ATP Tour rankings on Monday despite not having played since March 24 when he lost to Australian qualifier Thanasi Kokkinakis at the Miami Open. Federer, the winner of a men’s record 20 Grand Slam titles, has actually lost his last two matches, in Miami and Indian Wells.

This will mark Federer’s 309th week at No. 1 in the world. Pete Sampras is second at 286 weeks.

Without playing a single shot this week, Roger Federer will return to world number one.

In the process he simultaneously sets two new records, for oldest ever number one and longest time between stints at the top of the rankings.

Absolute goat. pic.twitter.com/K6gjhDfGu6

— bet365 (@bet365) May 11, 2018

Rafael Nadal fell to No. 2 after losing on Friday in the quarterfinals in Madrid to Dominic Thiem, who fell to Alexander Zverev in Sunday’s Madrid final, 6-4, 6-4.

“I would say probably now, besides Roger and Rafa, he’s the best,” Thiem said of Zverev, who won his third Masters 1000 title. “You just need to look at the results.”

Twelve-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic dropped out of the top 15 in the rankings for the first time since 2007 when he fell to No. 18.

Andy Murray, who hasn’t played since Wimbledon, dropped to No. 45. Murray will reportedly make a last-minute decision about playing Wimbledon this year. 

For the second straight year, Federer is skipping the clay court season — where Nadal remains the favorite to win his 11th Roland Garros title next month — to focus on the grass court season.

“Rafa is the favorite, no matter where he plays, on a clay court,” Zverev said. “He’s going to be the favorite in Rome; he’s going to be the favorite in Paris. He’s still the guy to beat.”

Wimbledon runs July 2-15.