Roger Federer could reclaim No. 1 in the ATP Rankings next week, but the Swiss might have a difficult path to the historic achievement at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.

The top-seeded Federer needs to reach the semi-finals to return to the top spot for the first time since 4 November 2012. But the 36-year-old Swiss might have to beat his surging countryman Stan Wawrinka in the quarter-finals.

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Wawrinka is the fifth seed at the ATP World Tour 500 event, and appears to be well on his way to regaining top form. Wawrinka is in the semi-finals this week at the Diema Xtra Sofia Open in Bulgaria. Federer will face a qualifier in the first round and will meet either German Philipp Kohlschreiber or Russian Karen Khachanov in round two.

Federer first rose to the top spot 14 years ago on 2 February 2004 and holds the record for most weeks spent at No. 1 (302). If he makes the semi-finals, he will become the oldest No. 1, eclipsing Andre Agassi (33).

Federer moved to within 155 points of World No. 1 Rafael Nadal after claiming his 20th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open last month. The Swiss right-hander has previously played the ATP World Tour 500 tournament in Rotterdam eight times, taking the title in 2005 and 2012.

Oldest World No. 1

_{* Nadal is guaranteed to stay No. 1 until at least 18 February 2018.
^ Federer is 36 years old as of 19 February 2018.} 

Nadal, who is not scheduled to play again until Acapulco in the last week of February, has held No. 1 for the past 25 weeks (since 21 August 2017). The Spaniard has been No. 1 in the ATP Rankings a total of 166 weeks since first taking over on 18 August 2008. Nadal is seventh all-time in most weeks at No. 1 in the history of the ATP Rankings (since 1973).

First and Last Day at No. 1

_{* Nadal is guaranteed to stay No. 1 until at least 18 February 2018.
^ 19 February 2018 marks 14 years, 17 days since Federer debuted at No. 1 on 2 February 2004.}

Federer has a 23-6 record in Rotterdam. In addition to his two titles, he reached the final in 2001 and semi-finals in 2003. His last appearance at the Rotterdam Ahoy stadium in The Netherlands was 2013, when he lost in the quarter-finals to Julien Benneteau.

Longest Gap Between Stints at No. 1

_{* February 19, 2018 marks five years, 106 days since Federer was last No. 1 on 4 November 2012.}

Should Federer make the semi-finals, his path hardly gets easier. Alexander Zverev could await in the last four, and on the opposite side of the draw, fourth seed David Goffin, who beat Federer at the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals, lurks along with World No. 4 Grigor Dimitrov, the second seed at the ATP World Tour 500 event.

Did You Know?
Federer leads all players with an Infosys Under Pressure Rating of 258. Learn more in Infosys Scores & Stats.

One year ago this week, David Goffin made his first big run of what would turn out to be many in a career campaign, in Sofia, where he advanced to the final (l. to Dimitrov). This year, the Belgian is in a different location, Montpellier, but the result looks much the same.

Goffin reached the semi-finals at the Open Sud de France with an impressive 6-4, 6-4 victory against 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier Karen Khachanov, the World No. 49, on Court Patrice Dominguez Friday.

It is the first semi-final of the season for the 27-year-old. The right-hander battled to the semi-finals seven times in 2017, winning five of those matches.

Goffin, who entered the match with a 2-1 FedEx ATP Head2Head series lead against Khachanov, did not face a break point, while earning 11 opportunities of his own (2/11).

The first Belgian to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals (2017) will face the winner between fourth seed Damir Dzumhur and the home favourite Richard Gasquet. He owns a 1-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head series lead against both players.

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DID YOU KNOW?
Goffin did not win a match in Montpellier before this week. The World No. 7 fell in qualifying in both 2010 and 2012.

Romania’s Marius Copil advanced to the first ATP World Tour semi-final of his career on Friday by remaining composed in a 6-4, 6-4 victory over third seed Gilles Muller of Luxembourg at the Diema Xtra Sofia Open. One break in the ninth games of each set, proved to be enough for Copil, who struck 13 aces and lost eight of his first-service points in the 80-minute encounter. He’d previously lost five quarter-finals and now awaits the winner of Slovakian qualifier Jozef Kovalik or Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus.

Top-seeded Swiss Stan Wawrinka, who is bidding to captures his 17th tour-level title this week, challenges 2016 finalist Viktor Troicki of Serbia later today.

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Thursday was a dangerous day to be a seeded player at the Ecuador Open.

Four seeds, including the only champion the tournament has ever had, all fell in a wild day of tennis in Quito. Three-time champion Victor Estrella Burgos was the first to fall. The Dominican had been 16-0 in Quito, by far his favourite place to play.

But Estrella Burgos, who came back to beat Thomaz Bellucci on Monday, fell for the first time in the Ecuadorian capital, dropping his second-round match to Austrian Gerald Melzer 4-6, 6-1, 6-4. Melzer saved three of four break points to improve to 2-0 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.

“I want to congratulate my opponent, he played a good match… He attacked well with his crosscourt forehand,” Estrella Burgos said. “I have won three times here. I would be arrogant saying I’m sad today. How many players would like to have three ATP titles? I hope to be back next year.”

Melzer said: “He won 16 matches in a row here and the previous times we played, we always had a battle. I knew it was going to be a very tough match, and I knew I had to play very well to beat him here.”

Melzer will next meet Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who was one of only three seeded players to advance to the quarter-finals. The second seed toppled Ecuador’s No. 1 Roberto Quiroz 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

Third seed Gael Monfils, playing in his first ATP World Tour match in South America, also needed three sets to move into the quarter-finals. The Frenchman beat #NextGenATP Casper Ruud of Norway 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. Monfils is looking to celebrate his second title of the season after winning the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha during week one.

“I think Casper is a very talented guy… I’m very happy to come through,” Monfils said.

Eighth seed Nicolas Jarry of Chile reached his first ATP World Tour quarter-final, escaping past Stefano Travaglia of Italy 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3. Jarry won the ATP Challenger Tour event in Quito last September (d. Melzer).

But no other singles seeds who were in action on Thursday found themselves still on the Quito draw sheet at the end of play. Top seed Pablo Carreno Busta, World No. 10, fell to No. 156 Andrej Martin of Slovakia 6-4, 6-2 in just 65 minutes. It was Martin’s first Top 10 win (1-2).

“The biggest key for me was I had already played two matches here, this was my third match, so I was already used to these conditions,” said Martin, who qualified for the ATP World Tour 250, “and also I really like these conditions here.”

Fourth seed and 2017 finalist Paolo Lorenzi of Italy fell in straight sets to Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena 7-6(4), 7-5; and #NextGenATP Frenchman Corentin Moutet knocked out seventh seed Ivo Karlovic of Croatia 7-5, 6-7(3), 7-6(6).

DID YOU KNOW?
Estrella Burgos is the only player in ATP World Tour history with three or more titles at one tournament and zero titles at all other events.

French tennis fans had a field day of good homegrown tennis on Thursday at the Open Sud de France, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga led the way in Montpellier.

The third seed never broke countryman Nicolas Mahut, but Tsonga still prevailed past the serve-and-volleying Mahut 7-6(3), 6-7(3), 7-6(4). Tsonga saved three break points, and Mahut saved four in the second-round match that lasted two hours and 24 minutes.

Tsonga has made the semi-finals both times he’s played Montpellier, 2010 and 2017, and in the quarter-finals, he’ll meet #NextGenATP Russian Andrey Rublev.

Three other Frenchmen also advanced, including second seed Lucas Pouille, who dropped only one point on his first serve (22/23) to breeze past #NextGenATP Spaniard Carlos Taberner 6-1, 6-2.

Three-time champion Richard Gasquet made another Montpellier quarter-final, toughing out a three-setter against countryman Pierre-Hugues Herbert 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-3. In the decider, Gasquet converted his lone break point and didn’t let Herbert see such an opportunity. Benoit Paire, 2013 finalist (l. to Gasquet), hit 17 aces to knock out Aussie John Millman 6-4, 7-6(4).

In other action, fourth seed Bosnian Damir Dzumhur broke seven times to advance past Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium 7-5, 6-4, and Russian Karen Khachanov overcame winning less than 40 per cent of his second-serve points to move past Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania 6-2, 7-6(11).

If Stan Wawrinka was looking for a confidence booster, he definitely got one on Thursday.

The Swiss, still on the road to recovery, overcame a shaky start to outlast Martin Klizan 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 at the Diema Xtra Sofia Open. 

Klizan pressed the action early and claimed the first set in 37 minutes, but Wawrinka settled down and battled back, managing to break Klizan in the fourth game of the second set. His confidence restored, Wawrinka broke again at 5-2 to close out the set.

“I expected a tough match; he’s already played a few matches here,” Wawrinka said of Klizan, who qualified for the event. “I just tried to focus on my game, find the right shots and be aggressive.”

The top-seeded Wawrinka was playing in his first match since a second-round loss at the Australian Open last month, and just his third match since Wimbledon last year (knee injury). Wawrinka will face Viktor Troicki in the next round. Troicki, a finalist in Sofia in 2016, was also pushed to three sets before overcoming Denis Istomin, 7-6(4), 1-6, 7-6(5). 

“I know Viktor is playing really well here and I’m expecting a tough match; I’m going to try and rest now to be ready for tomorrow,” Wawrinka said.

Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller got the better of Italian Andreas Seppi for the fourth successive time on Thursday for a place in the Diema Xtra Sofia Open quarter-finals. In a tense seventh FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting, third seed Muller struck 23 aces to edge past Seppi 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(2) in two hours and 34 minutes.

“To play Andy is never easy; he’s a great competitor,” said Muller. “In a close match like that, you have be lucky, and luck was a little bit on my side at the end. Overall, I’m happy with my performance.”

When asked about his comeback from a set down, Muller added, “You just have to hang in there. I had a few chances to come back in the first set and I didn’t take them. Obviously, I was a little upset about that, but I told myself to just keep going because I knew I might get a few more chances.”

Muller won six of the first seven points in the deciding set tie-break – including two aces – to move to within one win of his first ATP World Tour semi-final of 2018. Two years ago, at the inaugural tournament in Sofia, Muller reached the semi-finals (l. to Bautista Agut) and he will next prepare to challenge Romania’s Marius Copil, who swept past Blaz Kavcic of Slovenia 6-2, 6-2 in 67 minutes.

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Elsewhere, sixth seed Viktor Troicki was also pushed to a third set tie-break before outlasting Denis Istomin, 7-6(4), 1-6, 7-6(5). Troicki stormed to a 6/2 lead but squandered three match points before clinching the match on his fourth opportunity.

Afterwards, the Serbian felt nerves and a lack of focus threw him off his game. “I didn’t really play good; I was tight throughout the match,” Troicki said. “I hope I can loosen up and play more aggressively tomorrow.”

World No. 83 Maximilian Marterer, who is targeting a Top 50 finish in the year-end ATP Rankings, held his nerve to knock out eighth-seeded Portuguese Joao Sousa 7-5, 7-6(0) in one hour and 40 minutes. He’ll now face Bosnia & Herzegovina qualifier Mirza Basic in the last eight.

Former World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka makes his Sofia debut later today when he faces Slovakian qualifier Martin Klizan in the second round.

On Wednesday, they will face off in the second round of the Kunal Patel San Francisco Open. But on Tuesday evening, Americans Christopher Eubanks and Michael Mmoh tossed aside their racquets for a night of basketball across the bay.

Eubanks and Mmoh attended the blockbuster basketball game between the Golden State Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder at Oracle Arena. A second encounter on the tennis court awaits them, following Mmoh’s three-set victory at the Challenger in Charlottesville last year, but the two friends put aside their budding rivalry to watch the NBA’s elite players do battle. Behind a dominant performance by superstar Russell Westbrook, the Thunder pulled the upset by a score of 125-105.

“It was awesome,” said Eubanks. “It’s something that I don’t get to do very often. Usually when I come to tournaments, I’m more focused on the tennis and going to the hotel. It was definitely a fun experience, being able to come here and see some of the best athletes in the world. These are two of the best teams and to be able to soak it all up and take a step away from tennis, it refreshes the body and the mind. It puts you in a good place mentally and lets you go out and play again.”

Was an amazing night of ?, as @MichaelMmoh and @chris_eubanks96 took a break from the #ATPChallenger in San Francisco for the @warriors vs. @okcthunder game. pic.twitter.com/8tPCL98oN1

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) February 7, 2018

Eubanks, an avid basketball fan and Atlanta Hawks supporter, said he tries to play every day when he’s at home. The former Georgia Tech University standout turned pro in November, having already registered a quarter-final run at the ATP World Tour 250 in Atlanta earlier in 2017. The 21-year-old also successfully qualified for his first Masters 1000 tournament at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.

“For me, it was a sport that I’ve always loved but never did,” Eubanks said about his love for basketball. “Almost like a forbidden fruit. I think I was pretty good at it for someone who never played organised basketball. Being able to scrimmage with guys who are pros is something that I’ve always loved to do and gravitated towards.”

Mmoh, meanwhile, is one of the United States’ surging #NextGenATP stars. The World No. 163 is targeting his third ATP Challenger Tour title this week in San Francisco after kicking off his 2018 campaign with a quarter-final result at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp. It was his first match wins on the ATP World Tour.

The 20-year-old is one of ATPWorldTour.com’s 10 To Watch On the ATP Challenger Tour in 2018.

“It was just really cool to see the NBA elites like Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant and all those guys,” said Mmoh, a Washington Wizards fan. “I’ve been wanting to see them play live and it’s been such a pleasure. Thanks to the ATP for hooking it up.

“My dad was a pretty big NBA fan and his favourite was Michael Jordan. That was around the time I was born and he actually named me after Michael. That alone, basketball is always going to be one of my favourite sports. Jordan will always be one of my role models. That’s the main reason I love it so much.”

A quarter-final spot is on the line for Eubanks and Mmoh in San Francisco, a $100,000 event on the Challenger circuit. The winner faces Serbian teen Miomir Kecmanovic.