February 2, 2004 marked a before and after: Roger Federer reached number 1 in the ATP rankings for the first time, a milestone that marked the beginning of an era. The confirmation came with the official publication of the list and raised expectations about how long this summit would hold.
Roger Federer and the conquest of the top
Federer had already shown talent since his youth; He was number one in the ITF junior ranking and, at less than 22 years old, he won his first Grand Slam among professionals. His victory at Wimbledon 2003 was key: it catapulted him from fifth to third place and gave him the impetus to aspire to the top of the circuit.
At the end of 2003, his definitive promotion in the Tennis Masters Cup was confirmed: he won the title and beat André Agassi twice, in addition to defeating Andy Roddick, Juan Carlos Ferrero and David Nalbandian. Those victories supported his leap at the beginning of 2004, when he began to rub shoulders with the best.
Federer started 2004 ranked second in the ranking, and at the Australian Open he confirmed his moment of form. He beat Lleyton Hewitt in the fourth round, David Nalbandian in the quarterfinals and Juan Carlos Ferrero in the semifinals.. In the final he defeated Marat Safin and, thus, closed an impeccable tournament.
The record that marked an era of Roger Federer
The list of February 2, 2004 made its arrival at the top official and launched a historic series: Federer would remain number one for 237 consecutive weeks and would add 302 weeks in total. It was, until now, the longest record both uninterrupted and accumulated in the men’s ranking.
Hegemony translated into overwhelming numbers. Since reaching the top, he played 378 games with a record of 344 wins and 34 losses, which gives an approximate performance of 91.01%. Those numbers illustrate why his stay at the top was so dominant and difficult to replicate, even in Grand Slams.
