Tennis: Roger Federer will come out of the world top 10

Published on : 10/12/2021 – 16:02

The reign of the “Big 3” is gradually coming to an end. The exit of Swiss champion Roger Federer from the top 10 of the next ATP ranking for the first time in nearly five years is a further sign of this. The qualification of the Pole Hubert Hurkacz, 12^e world, Monday, October 10 for the knockout stages of the Masters 1000 Indian Wells will have been fatal.

The absence of the Swiss at Indian Wells, which will cost him 480 points, combined with the qualification of Hurkacz, will put Federer back from 9^e to 11^e world rank in the next ATP ranking to be published on Monday, October 17.

A prolonged absence that makes him dive

The Swiss champion, after an almost white year 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic and two right knee operations, had made his return to competition in the spring. But after 13 matches played, including a quarter-final at Wimbledon, he ended his season after his trip to London, due to a recurrence of his pain in his right knee.

This prolonged absence from the courts has slowly dragged him down the world rankings, where he still occupied the 5^e rank at the start of the year.

Ironically, the one who caused his exit from the top 10, Hurkacz, is already the one who beat him in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon last July.

Federer, who celebrated his 40th birthday this summer, entered the top 10 on May 20, 2002. He had only left it for a few weeks between July and October 2002, then from November 2016 to January 2017 when he had stopped his season. 2016 from July, already to treat a knee.

The Swiss, winner of 20 Grand Slam tournaments, still has no plans, despite his age and knee problems, to end his career.

“The worst is behind me and I am impatient for everything to come,” he said in mid-September, without risking to set a date for his return to the field, believing that it would take “another little patience “.

With AFP