Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray traded places with one another at the top of the men's singles rankings on Monday. Down below, the injured Roger Federer too made a hefty movement as he dropped down to the 16th place. This is the first time the Swiss finds himself outside the top 10 in 14 years.
Federer broke into the top 10, in the seventh place after winning the title in Vienna, in October 2002. He solidified his place further in the next two years, becoming the world No. 1 in February 2004, holding the position for 237 consecutive weeks until August 2008, when Rafael Nadal pipped him after winning the French Open, Wimbledon and the gold medal in the Beijing Olympics. Federer once again regained his place as the world No. 1 in 2009, and briefly held the position in 2012 as well to complete an unprecedented term of a total of 302 weeks in the ranking spot.
His 14-year run among the world’s 10 best players this year ended because of his injury-truncated season. Federer did not win any title this year. It was for the first time since 2000 that the Swiss hadn’t won a tournament in a calendar year. His best results in 2016 were in Brisbane, where he lost the final to Milos Raonic. He also reached the semi-finals in four tournaments – Australian Open, Stuttgart, Halle and Wimbledon.
Federer lost to Djokovic at the Australian Open, Dominic Thiem upset him in Stuttgart as did Alexander Zverev in Halle. His Wimbledon run went on to be clipped by Raonic. Post Wimbledon, the 17-time Grand Slam champion did not play any event, wanting to focus on getting better for next year.
In 2017, Federer will play the Hopman Cup in Perth, a team-based tournament, partnering Belinda Bencic.
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