Nieuws, feiten & wetenswaardigheden

[Stille]

Will 2012 be Federer’s year to return to No. 1 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings and finally overtake Sampras?

Though he starts an ATP World Tour season outside the Top 2 for the first time since 2003, Federer finished 2011 as the in-form player. Following the US Open, he won 17 straight matches with titles at Basel, Paris and the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals to collect 3,000 rankings points and move ahead of Andy Murray to No. 3 in the year-end rankings.

Entering 2012, he trails No. 1 Djokovic by 5,460 rankings points, No. 2 Nadal by 1,425 and holds a slim 780-point lead over No. 4 Murray. But of the players in the Top 4, Federer stands to gain the most ground through the conclusion of the US Open. Djokovic has 13,070 rankings points to defend, including three Grand Slam titles and five ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles, while Nadal has 8,985 and Murray 5,450. Federer, who managed to win just one title in Doha until the final month of the season, has 5,170 points to defend.