Roger Federer won his first Wimbledon title since 2012. (Source: Reuters)
Roger Federer has qualified for the ATP World Tour finals, to be played in London, for a record 15th time following his historic eighth Wimbledon title at the All England Club on Sunday. At the third Grand Slam of the year, Federer eclipsed Marin Cilic of Croatia, 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 in the final to rise to World No 3 in the rankings that were released on Monday. He joins only Rafa Nadal, World No 2, at the moment in qualifying for the year ending tournament.
The season-ending tournament will be played at the O2 Arena in London – a regular venue by now – and Federer had featured there for 14 consecutive years from 2002 till 2015 before pulling out last year due to injury. He had sat out the entire six months following Wimbledon defeat in the semi-finals to allow his knee injury to heal and recover.
“I look forward to returning to London in November,” Federer said. “I was sad not to be able to compete last year as I love playing there and had not missed the event since 2002.”
Federer who won his 19th Grand Slam on Sunday in a straightforward victory that was witnessed by his family and 15,000 in attendance at Centre Court, has now won five tournaments this season – the most on the ATP Tour. He has so far won Australian Open, Indian Wells, Miami, Halle and Wimbledon and stands flawless 25-0 in the big events in Grand Slams and Masters 1000 events. His win-loss record this year stands at 31-2.
He looks on course to becoming the World No 1 for the first time since 2012 considering how well he is playing and the drop in level by both Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic. It also helps his chances because he doesn’t have any ranking points to defend considering he didn’t play post-Wimbledon in 2016.
The year-ending tournament, scheduled for November 9-12, pits together the top-eight players in the world with the Race to London standings decided following the Paris Masters.
