Roger Federer to be new world number 2

By Geoff Nichols | Oct 9, 2014

Sep 2, 2014; New York, NY, USA; Roger Federer (SUI) celebrates after recording match point against Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) on day nine of the 2014 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports /

Roger Federer set to be new world number 2 in rankings

Roger Federer will go to number 2 in the ATP World Tour Rankings when they are released on Monday, representing a return to form that many people doubted was possible after his decline in 2013. Critics turned out to be premature in their analysis that the Swiss legend was over the hill and his place in the rankings and his recent form is anything but that of a man who has lost his passion for tennis.

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Federer will take advantage of the fact that Rafael Nadal lost in Round 2 in the Shanghai Masters, when he was defending points from a semi-final showing last year. Although the Spanaird has been out for a significant chunk of the year with injury, the achievement of Federer to return to the Top 2 is not to be underestimated.

It raises the question of whether Federer can make an assault on the World Number 1 spot in 2015, with Serb Novak Djokovic currently sitting pretty at the top of the rankings. Federer will have o continue to go deep into Grand Slams, where the winner gets a colossal 2000 points. Masters series eevnts, like the Shanghai Masters where Federer is currently competing, are also lucrative when it comes to points, earning the winner 1000.

Another benefit of Federer being World Number 2 comes at the World Tour Finals in London. The year ending tournament has a unique round-robin style, where there are two groups of four player and each player is guaranteed 3 matches, By being seeded as number 2, he will avoid Novak Djokovic in the round robin stages.

At 33 years old, Federer is certainly putting pay to those who said he would not be able to maintain his position at the top of the men’s game. His win-loss record in 2014 of 56-10 is remarkable when you consider that he finished last year down at 6th in the rankings.

Federer has been a great character for the world of tennis and debates over whether he is the greatest player of all time will rage on forever. In my eyes it is just great to get to enjoy his genius for a little while longer.

I imagine Federer’s reaction to the news of his rise in the rankings will be similar to his celebration after his heroic against Leo Mayer on Wednesday.

Take a look a the hilarious photos of when Federer met former NBA star Yao Ming in Shanghai

. It’s brilliant.

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