Roger Federer Is Three Wins From Becoming The Oldest No. 1 Player Ever

Fresh off winning his second-straight Australian Open, Roger Federer has taken a wild card to play Rotterdam next week. In his old age/late empire, Federer has opted for a light tournament schedule, and he hasn’t played this particular 500-level event since 2012. But he lost just two sets at the Australian Open, winning nearly every match in about two hours: 1:39, 1:59, 1:55, 1:59, 2:00, 2:14, 1:02, in order. The championship match against Marin Cilic finally pushed him to spend 3:03 on court. But overall it was not a taxing tournament. Last year’s championship run had him spending an extra 2:59 on court—basically, tack on another hard-fought match.

So Federer, apparently rested enough, will enter Rotterdam as the top seed. If he reaches the semifinals—which is to say, wins his first three matches—he will displace the currently injured Rafael Nadal as the top-ranked player on the men’s tour and become the oldest ever player to hold that seat. Federer, who is exactly 36-and-a-half-years old as of today, would unseat Andre Agassi, who claimed the spot a week before his 33rd birthday and retained it until he was 33 years and 131 days old.