Roger Federer leaves ATP ranking for the first time since 1997!

• Tennis News
• Roger Federer

Many things have changed in men's tennis in the past 25 years. One was inevitable before it all changed on Monday! The 20-time Major champion Roger Federer lost his position on the ATP ranking list for the first time since September 1997 when he was 16!

Struggling with injuries, Roger Federer has played only a couple of tournaments since the start of 2020. The Swiss has been dealing with a knee injury, undergoing three surgeries within 18 months and losing ground to his closest rivals.

Roger was ranked in the top-100 thanks to his last year's Wimbledon points, and they dropped off on Monday to leave him without points on his tally for the first time in almost 25 years! Federer had been ranked since September 22, 1997, standing as the most experienced active player in that segment.

The young Swiss earned a place in the ATP ranking at 16 after scoring 12 points at Switzerland 1 Masters Satellites in Bossonnens.

Roger Federer is not ranked for the first time since September 1997.

A teenager lost in the qualifying round of the ATP event in Gstaad in July 1997 before entering those Bossonnens events, his first professional tournaments in the main draw.

In four events played on outdoor clay, Roger made two semi-finals and lost them against the 2nd seed Daniele Balducci and the top seed Agustin Garizzio. Roger scored eight wins that month in Bossonnens and found himself on the verge of the top-800.

Making significant progress through the ATP ranking list, Roger entered the top-100 two years later and cracked the top-20 in February 2001. The Swiss entered the top-10 in May 2002 following the first Masters 1000 title in Hamburg and missed a chance to conquer the ATP throne in the summer of 2003.

Roger kicked off the 2004 season with the Australian Open title and became world no. 1 and a dominant figure for the next four and a half years. Federer had a great run between 2017 and 2019, claiming Majors and Masters 1000 crowns and finishing 2019 ranked 3rd behind Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

He reached the 2020 Australian Open semi-final before announcing a knee surgery. He underwent another in May and skipped the rest of the season, hoping for a fresh start in 2021. Roger played five tournaments in the previous season, reaching the Wimbledon quarter-final as the oldest player in the Open era but still struggling with knee issues.

Roger underwent the third surgery last summer and has not played for a year. The Swiss Maestro should compete again in the Laver Cup and Basel later this year, wishing for another season on the Tour in 2023.