The draw is out and Roger Federer has his work cut out for him if he plans to finish the week as the ATP’s new No.1. Federer needs to reach the semifinals at the ABN Amro World Tennis Championships in Rotterdam, and the Swiss will face three difficult challenges to achieve the feat.
Top-seeded Federer will begin with a first-round tussle with Belgium’s Ruben Bemelmans. If he reaches the second round, Federer will face either Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber or Russia’s Karen Khachanov. If Federer reaches the quarterfinals, and the seeds hold, he will face No.5-seeded Stan Wawrinka for a spot in the semis.
Here is the full draw, top and bottom half:
Other seeds in Federer’s half of the draw are No.3-seeded Alexander Zverev and No.9-seeded Gilles Muller.
The bottom half of the draw features No.2-seeded Grigor Dimitrov, No.4-seeded David Goffin, No.6-seeded Tomas Berdych and No.7-seeded Lucas Pouille.
If Federer reaches No.1 he will become the oldest No.1 in ATP history and he will also break the record for longest gap between stints at No.1. The Swiss first rose to No.1 in February of 2004 and no other player has ever become No.1 more than ten years after their original appearance at the top of the rankings.