Roger Federer Set to Retain No.4 Spot As Rankings Freeze

Roger Federer underwent arthroscopic surgery in February in order to rectify his hurting knee. As a result, he was all set to miss out on the clay-swing of the season and tumble down the ATP Rankings. However, the coronavirus pandemic has changed the scenario drastically since then.

After the Australian Open, Roger Federer was set to compete in the Dubai Open, but had to skip it as he opted for surgery. He announced he would miss the entire clay season and return for the grass-swing.

This meant missing multiple Masters 1000 events, including Miami Open where he would have been the defending champion. Federer fans were resigned to the fact that the Swiss would fall sharply down the Rankings until he returned.

Ironically, the break in the season due to coronavirus has played in his favor. The ATP has decided to suspend the Tour until 7 June while also freezing the rankings until resumption. That is not to say Roger will celebrate the virus, he just got lucky in this scenario.

The lucky Roger Federer

In the light of the Tour suspension, Federer has missed just one event, which was the Dubai Open. Since he was the defending champion there, he dropped 500 points straightaway. Consequently, Federer dropped one spot, from World No. 3 to No. 4.

Dominic Thiem took over the World No. 3 spot from Roger.

The 20-time Grand Slam champions would have dropped further down the order had the Tour carried on as usual.

Now, however, he will remain on the 4th spot until he returns for the grass-swing.

Of course, it remains to be seen if the grass season will still go ahead as planned. There is every chance that it will be suspended too, unless there is a drastic change in the public health scenario.

Federer will be desperate to play in the Wimbledon Championships. He turns 39 in August, meaning time is running out for him to win another Major.

He came within a point of lifting a 21st major last year at Wimbledon, but Novak Djokovic snatched it back. The Swiss maestro will now want to do everything in his power to give it one more go this time around.