Roger Federer’s seemingly routine pathway to reclaim the No. 1 ATP Ranking at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament got a little more challenging than expected Thursday night in Rotterdam.

Before his second-round clash with Philipp Kohlschreiber, Federer’s two-step process seemed straight forward: Extend his perfect record against Kohlschreiber to 13-0 and then take down either Robin Haase or fellow Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor in Friday’s quarter-finals.

But Federer had to fight off two set points in the first-set tie-break and endure a competitive second set to beat Kohlschreiber 7-6(8), 7-5 in one hour and 42 minutes.

“It was extremely complicated tonight,” Federer said. “I couldn’t find my range or my rhythm. I think Philipp did that to me; it was a struggle. Today when the score was close, I couldn’t release my shots. So it was a battle… It was quite the relief at the end.”

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Federer admitted to thinking at 4/6 in the first-set tie-break that he would need three sets to keep alive his No. 1 hopes. “I was preparing for the second set, being down one set. I don’t care how positive a person you are. You just see negativity flying all around you, I am down 4/6, I messed up, I should have done this, I should have done that. I’m at the mercy of my opponent. It’s a bad feeling, but when you do come back and snatch the set, it’s such a key moment in the match and I was able to utilise that.”

The Swiss superstar must now defeat Dutchman Robin Haase, who beat Griekspoor 6-4, 6-0 in the final match of the day, to return to the summit of men’s professional tennis for the first time in more than five years and become the oldest player to rank No. 1.

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On the only break point of the first set, a set point for Federer, with Kohlschreiber serving at 5-6, 30/40, the Swiss missed a passing shot. Kohlschreiber grew in confidence taking a 5/2 lead in the tie-break, and held two set point opportunities at 6/4 – including one on his serve. However, Federer regrouped with set point chances at 7/6, 8/7 and 9/8, finally converting his fourth chance with a crosscourt forehand winner.

Kohlschreiber fought off three break points at 1-1, but at 5-5 the German hit the first double fault of the match to hand Federer another break point. Kohlschreiber responded in aggressive fashion, punching away a volley to get back to deuce. But the pressure began to tell. A second double fault gave Federer the crucial break.

Federer captured his 20th Grand Slam championship crown at last month’s Australian Open (d. Cilic) for the 96th tour-level trophy of his career.

Did You Know?
If Federer wins Friday’s quarter-final to guarantee his return to World No. 1, Monday will mark more than 14 years since the Swiss first claimed the top ATP Ranking on 2 February, 2004. He would also become the oldest No. 1 at 36 (topping 33-year-old Andre Agassi) and set a record for the most time elapsed (more than five years) to return to No. 1 since the last time he held top spot (4 October, 2012).

Grigor Dimitrov advanced to the quarter-finals of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament with a 7-6(4), 7-5 win over Filip Krajinovic on Thursday. 

Dimitrov, seeded second in Rotterdam, was under pressure throughout the one hour, 43 minute match. The Bulgarian saved four break points in the opening set before capitalising on a double fault by Krajinovic at 5-4 in the tie-break. Dimitrov clinched the set a point later.

Krajinovic’s serve held up well again in the second until the 11th game of the set, when the Serbian fell behind 0/40. Dimitrov broke at 30/40, then closed out the match the next game. Dimitrov’s power factored into the outcome. The ATP World Tour No.5 hit 33 winners to Krajinovic’s 20. Dimitrov also fired 13 aces. 

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Dimitrov will play Andrey Rublev for a spot in the semi-finals. Rublev overcame a shaky start to defeat Damir Dzumhur 6-4, 7-6(4) earlier in the day. 

The Russian, now 4-0 against Dzumhur in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, expected a tough test and got one. Rublev dropped his serve twice in the opening set before battling back to book his place in the quarter-finals.

“It was a really close match,” Rublev said. “Damir is the kind of player that you need to fight every point of every rally. He gets every ball back. I expected this kind of match, with lots of breaks and long rallies. He’s really tough.”

In a match between qualifiers, Daniil Medvedev came from a set down to defeat Pierre-Hugues Herbert 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-4. The Russian will play Andreas Seppi on Friday.

Radu Albot surprised third seed John Isner at the inaugural New York Open on Wednesday evening to earn his first victory against an opponent inside the Top 20 of the ATP Rankings. 

It does not get any easier for the Moldovan, who will face former World No. 4 Kei Nishikori in the quarter-finals. But the Japanese superstar is not taking Albot lightly.

“He’s a very good grinder player and he doesn’t miss much,” Nishikori said of the World No. 91. “I’ve got to really focus against him.”

ATPWorldTour.com spoke to Albot after his second-round triumph against the home favourite, discussing his passions, what he wants to do after his career and more.

What’s your biggest passion outside of sport and why?
My hobby is to ride my bike. This is one of my favourite things. When I get home I ride the bike all the time with my friends. I just get excited for it. It’s my top hobby.

What was the last book you read?
I read a lot of books. I read the biographies of a lot of players, like Andre Agassi. I read The Four Musketeers. I also read The Mindset, a book about psychology.

If you could have dinner with three people who would they be?
Maybe some famous people or some actor.

Favourite Movie?
Mr. Brooks.

Last concert or show you attended?
I was at a lot of shows. I was at Aladdin. I was at The Lion King. The last one I was at was Cirque du Soleil.

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Favourite sport to watch besides tennis?
Speaking about sports, now it’s the Winter Olympics. I like the biathlon a lot. I like watching curling. If you talk about some other sports, not in the winter, I like soccer.

Favourite club?
I like Real Madrid.

Whom do you admire most?
I admire my father, I have to say, because he helped me a lot in life and taught me a lot of things. So I think that’s the person I admire the most.

My tennis career will be a success if ___________
I can’t say my career is not a success. Everybody is proud with what they achieved and what they’ve done. I guess human beings all the time want more and more. You have something, you want something else. You want more. But nobody is really satisfied and thankful for what they have at the moment. So I think I would say my career is a success. Of course you want to be [ranked] higher, but I’m happy.

After my tennis career, I want to ___________
I think I would like to stay in tennis, in sport, maybe to open an academy in my country because tennis and everything is not really well developed in my country and I would like to help the kids get better. There is not really a player who is coming behind me. As a professional, there are no ranked players. So maybe I would like to improve the sport in my country and create some possibilities for the younger kids.

Kei Nishikori is looking more and more like his former self. Nishikori, the former World No. 4 who’s on the comeback from right-wrist surgery last year, advanced to the New York Open quarter-finals on Wednesday.

The fifth seed needed only 65 minutes to get past Russian Evgeny Donskoy 6-2, 6-4. The Japanese star won 84 per cent of his service points (37/44), including a higher percentage on his second serve (17/20, 85%) than his first (20/24, 83%).

Almost exactly a year ago, Donskoy shocked Roger Federer at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, handing the Swiss his first loss of 2017. But Nishikori avoided a stunner and will next face Moldova’s Radu Albot, who upset home favourite and third seed John Isner 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-3.

Spoiler alert: Isner’s serve was spot on – the American hit 28 aces to just one from Albot. But the 28-year-old from Chisinau seized his lone break point in the decider to reach the quarter-finals on Long Island.

“Everybody knows that John has the best serve on tour. It’s very difficult to return his serve. You just have to guess, be able to somehow put the ball in the court. You just don’t know, you just react. If you put the ball in the court then you’re in the game and then you try to create something,” Albot said.

Fourth seed Adrian Mannarino secured his second quarter-final of 2018 (Sydney) when German Peter Gojowczyk retired down 7-6(5), 5-7, 1-4. Mannarino is at a career-high No. 25 in the ATP Rankings but the Frenchman is still searching for his maiden ATP World Tour title. He is currently the highest-ranked player without an ATP World Tour crown.

“I was disappointed to lose the first set but I was playing well and I just told myself that I should continue to play this way and see if there’s any chance to let him play one or two bad games,” Mannarino said.

The left-hander will next face Spain’s Adrian Menendez-Maceiras, who, a day after saving five match points against seventh seed Steve Johnson, made his second-round match look relatively easy. The Spaniard prevailed past Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 7-5, 7-6(5).