Roger Federer is now one win away from reclaiming the No. 1 ATP Ranking from Rafael Nadal.

The Swiss No. 1 seed defeated Argentine Guido Pella 6-4, 6-4 at the MercedesCup on Friday in his second match since 24 March. Federer needs to reach the final in Stuttgart to guarantee his third stint atop the rankings this season, trailing Nadal by just 100 points entering the week.

The 36-year-old has doubled his victory total in Stuttgart this week after arriving in Germany this year with a 2-2 record at the event. One year ago, Federer fell against then-World No. 302 Tommy Haas in his opening match. This year’s Australian Open and Rotterdam champion is attempting to win a grass-court trophy for the sixth consecutive year. With his triumph against Pella, Federer has won 14 consecutive matches on the mown lawns dating back to title runs at Halle and Wimbledon last year.

The Swiss showed his prowess on the surface, frequently swooping to net with swift aplomb against the left-handed Pella, who had not won a tour-level grass-court match (0-4) before this tournament. Federer lost just one point on serve in the first set, earning a break with a whipping inside-out forehand winner. He didn’t let slip the momentum, dancing on the grass to hit an inside-in forehand passing shot for an immediate break in the second set. 

The 17-time tour-level grass-court champion faced only one moment of difficulty, falling behind 15/40 while serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set. But Federer battled through with strong serving. He will next face talented Aussie Nick Kyrgios or 2017 Fever-Tree Championships winner Feliciano Lopez.

Did You Know?
Roger Federer got off to a career-best 17-0 start in 2018, before losing back-to-back matches in the Indian Wells final (l. to Del Potro) and his Miami opener (l. to Kokkinakis).

Dominic Thiem is the Iron Man of the 2018 season.

Nobody has played more matches (42) or won more total games (597) than the 24-year-old Austrian. He thrives on a robust schedule and has delivered a 35-9 record and two ATP World Tour titles, in Buenos Aires and Lyon.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of Thiem’s year reveals that he crafts his advantage more on the serving side of the equation than returning. Thiem is No. 1 on Tour this season in Service Games Won and has opened a considerable gap in this specific statistic over the rest of the Tour.

2018 Top 5: Service Games Won
1. Dominic Thiem 456
2. Alexander Zverev 416
3. Juan Martin del Potro 386
4. Kevin Anderson 374
5. Marin Cilic 358

Thiem has made 60 per cent of his first serves this season, winning 76 per cent of them. He has won 52 per cent of his second-serve points.

Not surprisingly, Thiem has also played the most service games in 2018. What will make you look twice is that he has played 103 more service games than fifth-placed Kevin Anderson.

2018 Top 5: Service Games Played
1. Dominic Thiem 533
2. Alexander Zverev 507
3. Fabio Fognini 442
4. Juan Martin del Potro 441
5. Kevin Anderson 430

Thiem has been a model of consistency this season, only twice failing to reach the quarter-finals out of 12 tournaments, while reaching four finals. Thiem has lost two matches in a row only once this season, which occurred when he lost in the final of the Mutua Madrid Open, an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, and then lost his first match at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome the following week to Fabio Fognini.

When we look to the returning side of the game, Thiem comes in a very close third with Return Games Won.

2018 Top 5: Return Games Won
1. Alexander Zverev 145
2. Rafael Nadal 144
3. Dominic Thiem 141
4. Diego Schwartzman 130
5. Fabio Fognini 126

When you look at the Austrian’s complete body of work, Thiem has outworked all opponents so far in 2018 to win the most combined serve and return games.

2018 Top 5: Total Games Won
1. Dominic Thiem 597
2. Alexander Zverev 561
3. Juan Martin del Potro 493
4. Fabio Fognini 469
5. Kevin Anderson 453

Thiem’s current ATP Ranking is No. 7, and he boasts a career-high ranking of No. 4, which he achieved in November 2017. By November 2018, he should be right back around his career best or possibly higher as he only has 22 per cent of his points to defend for the rest of 2018, including fourth-round runs at Wimbledon and the US Open.

Look for the Austrian workhorse to crack the Top 5 again very soon.