September 14, 2004

Federer Earliest to Clinch Year-End No. 1 Spot

By ATPtennis.com

After his dominating performance at the US Open, Roger Federer was confirmed as INDESIT ATP 2004 Race Winner and is now poised to surpass other milestones in 2004. ATP confirmed today that Federer has accumulated an insurmountable lead in the INDESIT ATP 2004 Race, marking what is believed to be the earliest a player has locked up the prestigious year-end No. 1 position in the Open Era (since 1968).

The Swiss, who captured his third Grand Slam title of the season on Sunday, now has a number of other tennis milestones, including capturing a fourth ATP Masters Series in a season.

With a 64-6 record in 2004, Federer has a 91.4 percent win-loss record which, if maintained, would make him the first player in ATP history (since 1990) to post a season win-loss percentage above .900. If he also maintains his perfect record against the game’s top players for the rest of the season (he’s 12-0 against top 10 players), he will be the first player in tennis history to do so.

"Anyone who didn’t know Roger Federer was a unique and creative athlete before the US Open victory certainly knows it today,” said ATP Chief Executive Officer Mark Miles.

"We are excited that in our first year of being title sponsors of the INDESIT ATP Race, we have witnessed a level of excellence that has never been matched before since the creation of the Race," said Fabio d'Angelantonio, INDESIT Advertising Manager.

"Our sponsorship of the Race helps us strengthen INDESIT's reputation as a leading brand and it perfectly represents the INDESIT world and mission: We work, you play. It is always an exciting challenge to reach the very best results in our fields."

Already an international superstar, Federer proved on Monday to be an increasingly hot commodity in the United States when he embarked on a whirlwind media tour of New York City to talk about his remarkable achievements and life as the World’s No. 1 player. He appeared as a guest on ESPN’s Cold Pizza, CBS’s Early Show and Live with Regis and Kelly before hitting Times Square for a photo shoot and media roundtable.

By end of day, he also had conducted talk show interviews with John McEnroe and Charlie Rose.

Federer’s incredible victory at the US Open marked the first time in the Open Era that anyone had won his first four Grand Slam finals: 2003 Wimbledon, 2004 Australian Open, Wimbledon, US Open. He also became the first player since Mats Wilander in 1988 to win three of the four Grand Slam titles in a year and the fourth player in the Open Era to win at least three of the four along with Jimmy Connors, who won three in 1974, and Rod Laver, who won all four in 1969.

Federer’s 20th career title in New York earned him an unassailable 440-point lead in the INDESIT ATP 2004 Race over his nearest challenger Andy Roddick. Even if the American wins every tournament he plays during the rest of this year, he cannot surpass Federer’s current total of 1087 INDESIT ATP 2004 Race points.

With three months of the season still remaining, there are many other milestones within reach for Federer:

Having already won three of 2004’s ATP Masters Series shields in Indian Wells, Hamburg and Toronto, Federer will be looking to become the first player since the series began in 1990 to win four of the nine total in a single season.

His victory over Hewitt also marked his 17th consecutive victory over a Top 10 player in the INDESIT ATP Entry Rankings. He is 12-0 in 2004. No player has ever gone undefeated against Top 10 opponents during a season.
With nine titles already under his belt, Federer could tie or surpass Thomas Muster’s record mark of 12 titles in a single year. He is scheduled to play five more ATP tournaments in 2004. Muster achieved his feat in 1995.

Federer’s victory over Hewitt in the US Open final was his 11th consecutive victory in a final and his ninth in 2004. He is also looking to become the first player to appear in more than seven finals and remain undefeated during a season. His last loss in an ATP final came at the hands of Jiri Novak in Gstaad in July 2003.

Having assured himself of one of the elite eight places at the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Houston, Federer will be looking to become the seventh player (since 1970) to defend the title. Federer went undefeated in Houston in 2003 and if he wins the title again he will join Lleyton Hewitt (2001-02), Pete Sampras (1996-97), John McEnroe (1983-84), Ivan Lendl (1981-82, ’85-87), Bjorn Borg (1979-80) and Ilie Nastase (1971-73) as players able to successfully defend the prestigious title.

Federer’s 64-6 mark on the ATP circuit in 2004 is the best since Ivan Lendl went 79-6 in 1989. Lendl eventually lost in the semifinals of the ATP Masters in New York against Stefan Edberg to finish the year with a 79-7 record.

Here is a statistical look at potential milestones for Roger Federer during the remainder of the 2004 ATP circuit:

INDESIT ATP RACE WINNERS – Federer’s current tally of 1087 INDESIT ATP 2004 Race points already is a record since the Race began in 2000. Here’s how his mark compares with previous year-end totals:

*as of September 13, 2004.

YEAR-END INDESIT ATP ENTRY RANKING – With a current total of 6760 points, Federer is looking to finish the year with the highest number of points since the ATP began in 1990, although the points breakdown changed slightly in 2000 (Andy Roddick finished with the highest number of points since 2000 with 4,535). Here are the highest point totals:

WIN-LOSS LEADERS (SINCE 1990) - With 64 wins already in 2004, Federer is on course to record the highest number of wins since the ATP circuit began in 1990. Here is a look at the year-end win-loss leaders since then:

PERCENTAGE WIN-LOSS LEADERS (SINCE 1990) – With a 64-6 record in 2004, Federer has a 91.4 percent win-loss record. He could finish the season with the highest win-loss percentage since the ATP began in 1990. Here is a look at the players with the highest year-end percentage:

FIRST TO FOUR - Federer is looking to become the first player to win four ATP Masters Series shields in one season. Here is a look at the players to have won three in a year since the series began in 1990:

*Held in Essen for one year before moving to Stuttgart in 1996

©2003 - 2008 Shinanat Mahamaytakit