Roger Federer Returning To No. 1? Tim Henman Thinks So
For Top 10er Tim Henman thinks that Roger Federer can regain his No. 1 ranking. Speaking after a hit with the Swiss in London last month, Henman was not ruling out that his good friend could return to the top spot in men’s tennis.
“I think with a rolling ranking it will be interesting to see if Federer can get back to number one,” said Hemman who won six of seven matches against Federer, losing only in a retirement. “He is just short of Sampras’ record for most weeks at World Number One. I know Roger will really want to break that record, so I think it’s possible. I think he will win more Slams, I really do. If the conditions favour him then Roger at his best is still better than anyone else.”
Federer was ranked No. 1 for 285 weeks, just one excruciating week shy of Pete Sampras’s all time mark of 286.
The third-ranked Federer will have the luxury of not having to defend many points early in the season. Federer lost in the semifinals of the Australian Open, Indian Wells and Miami through the first three months of 2011, so he’ll have ground to gain next even by reaching the final.
But now 30 and with more competition from the likes of Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Juan Martin Del Potro and of course Rafael Nadal, the odds are stacked against him to get back on top let alone win more Majors. Or maybe Henman was just having a “senior moment”.
Federer opens his 2012 season on December 30 at the Abu Dhabi exhibition followed by his title defense in Doha before the Australian Open.
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