Federer, out of the ATP rankings: he has lost all points

The image is surreal. On the ATP website, on Roger Federer’s personal page, the ranking position does not appear. That’s right: the Swiss is officially out of the league. It hadn’t happened for 25 years, since – on 22 September 1997 – the then 16-year-old Roger officially entered the world ranking. Now Federer is 40 years old, he goes for 41 (he will turn them in less than a month, next 8 August), he has become the third player by number of Slams won in his career – after overtaking Nadal in Australia, Djokovic’s has arrived at Wimbledon – and does not appear among the players with points to defend.

without points

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Zero, like the tournaments played by Federer this year. The last appearance dates back to the last edition of Wimbledon, with the heavy defeat in the quarter-finals against Hubi Hurkacz in three sets, complete with a “bagel” (6-0) suffered in the last set. The points won last year at the Championships were the last sum to be defended, but it would not have been possible even in the event of participation in the tournament given the choice of the ATP not to assign points in this edition in response to the decision, by the organizers, to exclude Russian and Belarusian tennis players.

and now?

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It seems a circle that closes, with a series of joints that would suggest the end of an era: the first edition of Wimbledon without Federer from ’99 to today, Roger acclaimed on the pitch on the centenary day of the Center Courte with an ovation that he also knew of nostalgia, Djokovic who overtakes him in the Slams won, the name of the Swiss who disappears from the ranking. Yet Federer does not seem willing to give up: the home tournament in Basel and the Laver Cup, the competition in which Team Europe and the rest of the world face off, are scheduled. And in the “Middle Sunday” ceremony on the Centrale, Roger left the window open: “I hope I have represented this sport well and to return to this field soon”, the words of the Swiss. Who will still be able to participate in tournaments – although he has disappeared from the ranking – by invitation. But today, 11 July 2022, is still a historic date.