On February 2, 2004, tennis icon Roger Federer wrote one of the most important chapters of his unique career. After winning the Australian Open two days earlier, the Swiss’s name was at the top of the ATP world rankings for the first time. The start of the longest reign in the history of the ranking.
Federer would not give up his place on the throne again for four and a half years. Federer was number 1 in the world for a whopping 237 weeks and dominated the tennis circus with big victories against old rivals and new competitors.
However, the triumph in Melbourne in 2004 was preceded by some tough tests. After three secure opening victories, the first really difficult challenge awaited in the round of 16 with local hero Lleyton Hewitt.
Hewitt, who had previously put Federer in his place at the Davis Cup, inflicted the Swiss’s first set loss of the tournament, but was subsequently unable to do much more against the confident and dominant second seed. “The round of 16 against my Davis Cup conqueror Lleyton Hewitt was a key game for me here,” emphasized Federer himself in self-indulgence.
After further outstanding performances against the top ten players David Nalbandian and Juan Carlos Ferrero, the Basel native was in the final against the unseeded Marat Safin. Against the sometimes undisciplined Russian, a concentrated and calm performance was enough for Federer to win easily in three sets (7:6, 6:4, 6:2) and bag his second Grand Slam success.
Andy Roddick replaced as number 1
The year before, the then 21-year-old Federer had already become one of the Grand Slam winners and thus advanced into the phalanx of the really great tennis players. In the Wimbledon final, he also secured his first of eight titles at the All England Championships in three sets against the Australian serving giant Mark Philippoussis.
Seven months later, “King Roger” won the title Down Under and, thanks to the quarter-final exit of the previous number 1 Andy Roddick, made it to the top of the world rankings for the first time.
Federer: “A dream has come true”
“It’s unbelievable, just an amazing feeling! It’s a dream that has come true! The whole tournament was so intense because I went into it under a lot of pressure,” said the new industry leader full of happiness after his Melbourne success. The great success in Australia was still in doubt a few weeks earlier after Federer surprisingly separated from successful coach Peter Lundgren in December 2003.
Having finally reached the top of his sport meant a lot to Federer, as he himself admitted: “You always dream of becoming number one. All over the world people are now saying: Roger Federer is the best tennis player in the world . Just unbelievable!”
2024-02-02 13:12:00
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