Federer becomes oldest ever No 1

THE glorious Indian summer of Roger Federer’s career shows no sign of burning itself out, and last night he notched up another remarkable accolade to add to his 20 Grand Slam titles. At 36, the Swiss became the oldest world No 1 in history when he overtook Rafael Nadal in the rankings after his late entry into the ABN Amro World Tennis event in Rotterdam. Federer beat Dutchman Robin Haase 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 to make the semifinals, edging ahead of his Spanish rival for the first time since October 2012. That makes him the oldest man to do so, replacing Andre Agassi, who held the position at 33. Rotterdam is rarely on the Swiss master’s schedule, but following his repeat triumph at the Australian Open last month, Federer realised he could reclaim No 1 if he made the last four this week. The latest victory — which saw him rewarded with a special ATP trophy (left), puts Federer on 9,785 points, 25 ahead of Nadal, though his reign might not last long. Next month, Federer is defending his Masters-level titles at Indian Wells and Miami, meaning he could drop 2,000 points under the ATP’s 12-month ‘roll-on, roll-off’ system. Nadal is defending only 990 points between now and the end of Miami so, with him due to return from injury later this month in Mexico, he could snatch the lead back. Federer first became world No 1 in February 2004 and has held the position for 302 weeks, also a record. When he was last there it came not long after his 2012 win over Andy Murray in the Wimbledon final, which until last year looked as if it would be his last Grand Slam title. Yet, he has added three more. The one record to elude him since rankings were introduced in their current form, going back to 1973, is the most seasons ending No 1. He has five of those, still one short of Pete Sampras.