Johannesburg - Following his 97th Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour title at the Rotterdam Open final, fans now firmly believe Roger Federer can go on to break Jimmy Connors’ record of 109 titles, which he has held for 29 years.

The 20-time grand slam champion climbed back to the number one spot after beating Grigor Dimitrov last weekend, and there has been much talk on social media that he may well reach the record set by Connors.

This year’s Australian champion’s latest win puts him within 12 titles of Connors’ record in the men’s game.

The 36-year-old Federer, who is also now the oldest No 1 in the history of the ATP Tour, has clinched every trophy there is to win in tennis and shows no signs of slowing down.

In October, he won his eighth Swiss Indoors title, taking him clear above the US’s Ivan Lendl into second on the all-time list behind Connors’ record.

But he is more cautious about chasing that number, saying: “I will not start competing in all [ATP] 250 and 500 events to break that record.”

Former world No 4 James Blake told the Tennis Channel: “I love Roger – he is the greatest of all time in my opinion – but 109 is just too many at this point in his career.”