Federer drops out of tennis rankings after 25 years

Roger Federer has not appeared in the ATP weekly rankings for the first time since September 1997. The Swiss tennis star has not played for 12 months. On September 22, 1997, a young player from Basel who had just turned 16 featured in the ATP rankings for the first time – in 803rd place. Federer would go on to top the list, published by the Association of Tennis Professionals every Monday, for 310 weeks, a record that was only surpassed last year by Novak Djokovic. Federer still holds the record for consecutive weeks spent at No 1 (237, four-and-a-half years). The last points left in Federer’s account were 600 from the 2019 Wimbledon final, more than the 360 he received for last year’s quarterfinal and still putting him at 97th last week. The winner of 20 grand slam titles is planning a comeback from knee surgery at the Laver Cup in September and the Swiss Indoors in Basel a month later. The highest-placed Swiss is currently 30-year-old Henri Laaksonen, ranked 96.