Win in Shanghai Guarantees Federer a 300th Week as Number One

October 11, 2012 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
Roger_Federer_03_0
Photo credit: Kenneth B. Goldberg

After dropping the first set, Roger Federer defeated his Swiss compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka at the 2012 Shanghai Rolex Masters 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-0 to advance to the quarterfinals, and in the process, guaranteed himself a spot at the top of the ATP Men’s Singles Rankings for a 300th week. Wawrinka got off to a strong start to win just his fourth set in 13th meetings against Federer on Thursday evening. He lost nine of his service points and saved two break points. Federer is bidding to win a record 22nd ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown and tie John McEnroe on 77 tour-level titles.

“I never thought of something like this when I was a little kid, that’s for sure,” said Federer. “I was just hoping one day my dream was going to come true to play on the regular tour, play Wimbledon, maybe become World No. 1 at some stage. So here I am at 300 weeks. It’s pretty incredible. Probably one of my biggest accomplishments. I’m very proud of that record, no doubt about it.”

Federer will next play Croatian Marin Cilic, who defeated Fernando Verdasco 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 in just over two hours. Cilic advances to the quarterfinals for the first time with his 37th match win of the year (37-16 overall).

“I consider myself a little lucky,” said Federer. “I never stopped believing, pushed till the end, then got off to a good start in the third set. Basically that was it. It was a tough match. He was the better player for basically two sets. It’s great finding a way out that way, that’s for sure.”

Second seeded Novak Djokovic will next play Tommy Haas, who defeated Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic 6-2, 6-1 in just over an hour. Haas won 92 percent of his first service points for his 30th match win of the year and now has 499 victories overall in his career.


Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
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