Federer climbs into top 25
Swiss tennis star Roger Federer has reached his highest ever position in the sport's world rankings, after narrowly missing out on his first ever singles title at the weekend.
Federer was beaten in five sets by Sweden’s Thomas Enqvist in the final of the Swiss Indoors tournament on Sunday. But Federer’s performances throughout the week were enough to lift him to 25th in the rankings, a climb of nine places.
Swiss number two Marc Rosset also moved up the list, after reaching the semi-finals of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow. The Genevan rose seven places to 28th. America’s Pete Sampras continues to top the rankings.
This week Rosset and Federer are both contending the Master-Series in Stuttgart. Federer has been drawn against America’s Jan-Michael Gambill in a match which could serve as a taster for February’s Davis Cup action.
Gambill is expected to line up for the US in their first round tie against Switzerland if Sampras and Andre Agassi rule themselves out of the competition.
The only previous match between Gambill and Federer came in the second round of this year’s French Open. Federer enjoyed a straight sets victory over the American before eventually going out in the fourth round.
Rosset, meanwhile, has been drawn against the German wild card entry Rainer Schuttler. The Swiss number two won their only previous encounter in Croatia two years ago.
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