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Roger Federer earns No. 1 ranking prior to Wimbledon

By Veronica Elizabeth Bruno

STUTTGART, GERMANY - JUNE 16: Roger Federer of Switzerland poses with ball kids after defeating Nick Kyrgios of Australia and returning to the top position in the ATP global ranking during day 6 of the Mercedes Cup at Tennisclub Weissenhof on June 16, 2018 in Stuttgart, Germany. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images)
STUTTGART, GERMANY - JUNE 16: Roger Federer of Switzerland poses with ball kids after defeating Nick Kyrgios of Australia and returning to the top position in the ATP global ranking during day 6 of the Mercedes Cup at Tennisclub Weissenhof on June 16, 2018 in Stuttgart, Germany. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images) /
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Roger Federer gets back the top ATP ranking from Rafael Nadal in first grass tournament of the season with spot in Stuttgart final.

Rafael Nadal may have won the French Open for the 11th time and just finished off an astonishingly successful clay season, but now is grass season, and Roger Federer steals the No. 1 ranking back from the “king of clay,” for the third time this year.

Welcome back to the fascinating see-saw ranking battle between the two greatest tennis players to grace the sport. The fight is back on. It’s the first week of grass season, and Federer’s already sealed the top spot again. Could this be a harbinger of things to come at Wimbledon?

Most likely.

In July, Fed’s going for his record ninth at the All England Club. When he and Nadal aren’t competing against each other’s records, they’re out-competing their own.

At 36, Federer already became the world’s oldest No. 1 earlier this year, taking over from the oldest end-of-year No. 1, 32-year-old Nadal. Even with the phenomenal collection of titles accomplished by Nadal this clay season, only 100 points separated him and the Swiss. They are neck-and-neck in grand slams this year, with Federer having won in Australia.

Federer is coming back from a break during clay season. After winning Down Under, he lost the final at Indian Wells to Juan Martin del Potro in a tightly-contested match, and then went out in the first round to 21-year-old Thanasi Kokkinakis in Miami.

Similar to last year, Federer came back during grass season, but went out in the first round at the Mercedes tournament in Stuttgart, an event he’s surprisingly never won.

This time the 20-grand slam champ is into the finals, against Canada’s Milos Raonic, slowly progressing in his own comeback after a series of injuries. A win on Sunday will give the Swiss legend his 98th ATP title, nine titles behind Jimmy Connors, one of the few records Federer doesn’t own (yet).

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Federer will be the new world No.1 for the sixth time come Monday, for a record 310 cumulative weeks (breaking his own). If his loss to Kokkinakis in Miami was anything to worry about, he’s swept those concerns aside with his winning streak at the first tournament on the road to Wimbledon.

“My season starts now,” Federer confidently said after the win. “I have nothing to complain about, everything is going positive,” he added.

The Swiss Maestro will be entering Wimbledon as the top player in the world, a huge confidence booster for a slam he has complete command over.

Federer is going for a first title at the Stuttgart Open on Sunday, which can be viewed on the Tennis Channel at 7:00 a.m. ET.

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