Roger Federer to lose No. 1 ranking after shock defeat to Thanasi Kokkinakis
Roger Federer’s latest reign at the top of the world rankings will end after his shock loss to Australian qualifier Thanasi Kokkinakis in the second round of the Miami Masters. Federer, who won the Australian Open, revealed that he will skip the clay-court season, including the French Open.
Roger Federer had a great start to the year 2018 as after winning the Australian Open (his 20th Grand Slam title) and the ATP title in Rotterdam, he returned to the No. 1 ranking for the first time in five years and also became the oldest player to reach the top spot. However, his reign at the top will come to an end after a shock loss to Kokkinakis in the second round of the Miami Masters on Saturday (March 24). Kokkinakis, who is ranked 175th in the world, was a wild-card entrant in the competition but he showed nerves of steel in a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) triumph over 20-time Grand Slam champion. Now, Raefel Nadal will replace Federer at the top of the ATP Rankings which will be revealed at the end of the tournament.
“I deserve it after this match. That's how I feel. Just so bad. Sometimes you have these matches. Sometimes you find a way through. I just couldn't get it done today,” Federer was quoted as saying by TOI.
Federer appeared firmly in control when he breezed through the first set without facing a break point, dropping just six points on his own serve. His lone break for a 3-1 lead was all he needed to pocket the set.
But after saving break points in the opening game of the second, Kokkinakis took full advantage of a
“I feel like it already started beginning of the second set when I had break points first game, and he almost wanted to give me that game, and I couldn't take it. From that moment on, I played maybe a bad 10 minutes, which cost me the second set, maybe the match,” Federer said.
Kokkinakis was delighted to beat a player he so admires, calling Federer “such a good role model for the sport.”
“I've trained with him a lot of times. I took what I learned from him and sort of kind of knew how he played a little bit,” Kokkinakis said.
Meanwhile, Federer also revealed that he will skip the clay-court season, including the French Open, just as he did last year after winning titles in Indian Wells and Miami.
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