What to call the beginning of Roger Federer’s 20^th year on the ATP World Tour?

In January, we would have used adjectives such as “hopeful” or “upbeat”. Federer, describing himself, picked “rejuvenated” and “refreshed”.

In what looks like prescient language now, three months on, the Swiss veteran said at the start of the year, “I do believe it could be very beneficial for the future of my tennis career that I’ve had this six-month layoff… I feel rejuvenated, refreshed. Maybe mentally I needed this rest more than I thought I would. Maybe also my body needed a rest more than I thought I would.”

But now, after Federer has rolled through the Australian Open, the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and the Miami Open presented by Itau, his earlier adjectives no longer work.

Perhaps “unbelievable”? None of this was predicted – not by Federer, not by his coaches, not by tennis pundits and maybe not even by the millions of fans across the world who scream for the Swiss star. But whatever term you pick, there’s no mistaking what Federer’s start has added to his place among the best in the game.

By capturing the season’s first three “Big Titles”, Federer has extended his “Big Titles” lead against long-time rivals Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. The Swiss right-hander now has 26 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crowns and 50 overall “Big Titles”. That puts Federer three “Big Titles” ahead of Djokovic and eight ahead of the left-handed Spaniard.

Current and Former Champions’ Big Titles Won (Records Since 1990)

 * Becker’s four other Grand Slam titles came before 1990.
** Edberg’s three other Grand Slam titles came before 1990.

“Once you win a big tournament like the Australian Open, or any big tournament for that matter, you can just bank usually on some confidence,” Federer said on Sunday after beating Nadal for his third Miami title. “That confidence gets you through a lot of the tough matches that nobody ever speaks about again.”

To earn that belief, in Melbourne, the 17th-seeded Federer had to beat Tomas Berdych, Kei Nishikori, Mischa Zverev, Stan Wawrinka and Nadal for his 18^th Grand Slam.

In Indian Wells, Federer met Nadal, not in the final, but in the fourth round, and then faced rising American Jack Sock before again beating Wawrinka in the final.

The past two weeks in Miami, Federer had to overcome Juan Martin del Potro and Roberto Bautista Agut to reach the last eight. In the quarter-finals, Federer saved two match points against Berdych before outdoing Nick Kyrgios in an epic semi-final and again beating Nadal in the final.

Federer’s stats from the three big tournaments: 18 wins, zero losses; a 7-0 record against the Top 10; a 10-2 record in tie-break sets, and the most important number: Three more “Big Titles”.

“I can’t explain. I told Severin [Luthi], my coach, when I was warming up, if I would have just played the Miami finals, no Indian Wells, no Australian Open, we would still be very happy right now,” Federer said on Sunday. “But I have way more, so that’s why I was trying to remind myself just to play without pressure. Just do it one more time and go out there and be brave on the big points. I think I was able to do that.”

“Be brave” – it’s the same mantra Federer carried with him during the Australian Open final, the first time he surprised Nadal with his flat backhand, and likely the same advice he brought to the court in Indian Wells. “Be free in your head, be free in your shots, go for it. The brave will be rewarded here,” Federer said in Melbourne.

Watch & Vote: March Masters Golden Hot Shot

His “Big Titles” lead is hardly secure, though, especially considering his announcement that he’ll take an extended break and likely play only Roland Garros on the clay. Three Masters 1000 tournaments sit between now and the season’s second Grand Slam, which starts 28 May, including the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, the Mutua Madrid Open and the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome.

All three other members of the “Big Four” have brought home hardware from those clay-court Masters 1000 events. Djokovic and Nadal have won all three titles in their careers, and Andy Murray is missing only the Monte-Carlo crown.

Just last year, Nadal won his ninth Monte-Carlo title, Djokovic claimed his second Madrid trophy, and Murray celebrated his first Rome championship. Djokovic also still remains the all-time leader in Masters 1000 titles with 30.

“Unpredictable”? You could say that about Federer’s first three months, and about the next few months of the ATP World Tour season.

A LOOK BACK

Torneo Internacional Challenger (Leon, Mexico): Adrian Menendez-Maceiras lifted a trophy for the first time in a decade to cap an astonishing week in Mexico. The 31 year old had lost his past eight finals on the ATP Challenger Tour, but prevailed 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 against Roberto Quiroz in the first all-qualifier Challenger final since 2010.

Menendez’s reward for his second Challenger title, his first since Cordoba in 2007, is for the Spaniard to climb up 70 places to No. 210 in Emirates ATP Rankings.

Open Harmonie Mutuelle (Saint-Brieuc, France): Austrian top seed Gerald Melzer lost in the opening round at Saint-Brieuc. His conqueror Egor Gerasimov won seven matches in eight days as a qualifier to clinch a second Challenger title.

The 24 year old is the lowest-ranked title winner in 2017 (No. 404) and as a result surges up 141 spots to No.263 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. Also, Gerasimov is the first Belarusian winner on the Challenger Tour since he won his maiden title in Bratislava in 2015.

WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID

Menendez-Maceiras: “This is really important for me. I can’t say how many finals I lost over the last 10 years, so this is very, very important. With hard work and patience I won this tournament with my level. I hope to return next year and fight for the title again.”

A LOOK AHEAD

Onto the clay and there are two Challengers on the schedule this week, leading with the €64,000 event in Sophia Antipolis, France. World No.40 Benoit Paire enters as a wildcard to take the top seeding, alongside a strong field in France, which includes former Top 10 player Nicolas Almagro and fellow Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. #NextGenATP player Stefanos Tsitsipas has taken a wildcard into the clay court event.

The $50,000 tournament in Panama City, Panama, is back on the calendar following a two year absence. 2012 champion Rogerio Dutra Silva returns to try and reclaim his title, with Argentine Horacio Zeballos playing as top seed. Victor Estrella Burgos will also be a threat in Panama, having taken his third-straight title on the clay at the Ecuador Open in February.

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ATP CHALLENGER TOUR ON TWITTER: The ATP Challenger Tour has launched a dedicated Twitter account for the latest news and information about players and events. Follow @ATPChallengerTour at twitter.com/ATPChallengerTour.

Gregarious Italian Fabio Fognini moved up 12 places to his highest position in the Emirates ATP Rankings since 15 February 2016 (at No. 24) courtesy of reaching the semi-finals at the Miami Open presented by Itau.

The World No. 28 won five matches in Florida, including a straight-sets victory over second seed Kei Nishikori, to earn a spot in his first Masters 1000 semi-final since 2013, when he played the last four in Monte-Carlo (l. Djokovic).

Donald Young continues to build on his impressive start to 2017, as he climbed nine places to No. 42. The American secured semi-final spots at the Memphis Open and Delray Beach Open. Then at Indian Wells he toppled Abierto Mexicano Telcel champion Sam Querrey and World No. 17 Lucas Pouille en route to the fourth round.

View Latest Emirates ATP Rankings

The 27 year old edges nearer to his career-high ranking of No. 38 (27 February 2012) after another Masters 1000 fourth round showing in Miami. Victories over Dustin Brown, Pouille and Benoit Paire produced another fine tournament, before Fognini prevailed in straight sets.

A trio of #ATPNextGen players have made significant rises in the rankings this week. Jared Donaldson enjoyed a remarkable run in Miami to achieve his first Masters 1000 fourth round. The 20 year old has risen up 20 places to World No. 75 after coming through qualifying in Florida, finally falling to Jack Sock in the Round of 16.

Frances Tiafoe also impressed in Key Biscayne. The 19 year old advanced through qualifying to play eventual champion Roger Federer in the second round. Tiafoe managed to take the Swiss maestro to a tie-break in a 7-6(2), 6-3 encounter and moves up 12 places to World No. 89 following his endeavours in Miami.

Ernesto Escobedo is the the third #NextGenATP player who caught the eye in Miami. The American has cracked the Top 100 for the first time, having qualified for the main draw and defeated World No.44 Daniel Evans. His Miami progress was halted 7-6(9), 7-5 by Fernando Verdasco, but moved Escobedo up 13 places to No. 95 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Henri Kontinen is the new No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings, ending the 38-week stint of France’s Nicolas Mahut at the summit of the professional game. He is the first Finn and 50th player overall since the establishment of the team rankings in March 1976 to become World No. 1.

Just as hard-graft helped Jarkko Nieminen become world-class for a place in Finland’s sporting history, alongside the likes of Janne Ahonen, Mika Häkkinen, Sami Hyypiä and Teemu Selänne, Kontinen’s determination to succeed has also helped his talent blossom. In four short years, the 26 year old has risen from competing in ITF Futures tournaments on the comeback trail from injury, uncertain of his future, to today leading the team sport.

“In doubles, you win and lose as a team so you set shared goals,” Kontinen told ATPWorldTour.com. “I never set out to be No. 1, you always try to improve and string together results to build up confidence. But it’s pretty cool to know I’ve got to No. 1.”

When it became official, the 26-year-old Kontinen was fast asleep in Tampere, a city in southern Finland, in preparation to joining his friend at an ice hockey match on Friday. So it was the fate of a friend to inform ‘Henkka’ of the news that Nicholas Monroe and Jack Sock had beaten Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, the leaders of professional doubles over much of the past 15 years, at the Miami Open presented by Itau.

With the help of his Australian partner John Peers, Kontinen has risen from No. 40 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings 12 months ago. The pair has put together a 25-6 record since mid-October 2016 – picking up the Paris Masters, ATP Finals and Australian Open titles.

“It really is an amazing accomplishment for Henri to become World No. 1 and the first Finnish player to do so as well,” Peers told ATPWorldTour.com. “He continues to break records for Finnish tennis and the sky is the limit for him. It certainly is a great feeling to be able to do what we have done together so far. I am hoping this is just the start of what we can accomplish.”

But it could have been very different for the relaxed and easy-going Kontinen, who, aged 21 had two knee, two right wrist surgeries and shoulder problems on the horizon. It wasn’t until June 2013 that the likeable Finn felt ready to compete. Having moved with his family to the Czech Republic aged 15, competing at the highest level, for which he’d been touted, was a distant goal.

“It was hard to take and certainly the toughest moments of my career, being so young and realising that a career of playing tennis in the future might not happen,” Kontinen told ATPWorldTour.com. “Injuries are a part of the deal when you play sport. I was unlucky early on, but I worked hard on my fitness to get stronger, and now manage my knee and be careful.”

As Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer contested arguably the greatest match in tennis history: the 2008 Wimbledon final, 100 yards away on No. 1 Court, Grigor Dimitrov and Henri Kontinen were competing in the boys’ final. It proved to be a high point for the big fish of the junior world. Shortly after helping Finland to a 3-2 victory over Poland in a Davis Cup zonal tie in September 2011, Kontinen underwent surgery on a left knee injury that had gotten progressively worse.

Robert Lindstedt, who trained with Kontinen when he partnered Nieminen, told ATPWorldTour.com, “We all used the same physio, Jarmo Ahonen, and I used to go to Helsinki a lot. At one stage we were both so injured that we were not allowed to play tennis and we did fitness together. I told him in a text message the other day, who would have thought that all we were allowed to do was slowly jog around a track, years later he would be a Grand Slam champion and now World No. 1.”

“I love the sport, watch it and study it,” said Kontinen, who also grew up playing football and basketball. “When I turned my focus to doubles, upon returning from injuries on the Futures circuit with my former junior partner, Christopher Rungkat [winners of the 2008 Roland Garros boys’ doubles title], I had to learn and get used to where to position myself. In teaming up with John, he has helped me a lot with his greater doubles experience. So I’ve found that the best way is to learn as a team.”

In recent years, Kontinen has been able to develop and improve his game consisting of a huge serve, good feel at the net, a single-handed backhand and an attacking attitude. Relaxed and easy-going Kontinen combines finesse with serious firepower and an ability to focus and thrive on big points.

Today, it has helped him become the youngest player to reach No. 1 since the Bryans (aged 25) on 8 September 2003. Belarus’ Max Mirnyi was also 25 when he reached No. 1 for the first time on 9 June 2003.

TRIBUTES TO THE NEW WORLD NO. 1

Max Mirnyi: It’s great to see fresh, young blood in the game! Henri has shown that he is good all-around player and has been playing consistently for a couple of years already with winning some of our biggest tournaments. Congratulations, Henri, on accomplishing this special feat!!! Enjoy the leadership and continue to promote and grow the great game of doubles.

Nenad Zimonjic: I’d like to congratulate Henri, a relaxed and easy-going guy. He definitely deserves it as he’s been winning a lot. Rankings don’t lie and he’s now one of the youngest No. 1s in ATP history.

Jean-Julien Rojer: I would like to congratulate him for this amazing achievement. It is even more impressive for me because he’s one of the younger doubles players on Tour and how quickly he’s got up there. Everybody knew that he was super-talented and he’s now put it together mentally as well. As good as he is on the court, he is off the court. He’s a very nice, easy-going guy that everyone gets along with and very respectful. Congrats to him, and a tip of the cap!!

Horia Tecau: It’s a well-deserved ranking for Henri. It’s very impressive to reach No. 1 in such a short time being on Tour. Good for him! He’s a complete player, owns all the weapons in the game and managed to dominate at the end of 2016 and the start of 2017 together with his partner, and the guy who deserves to get recognition for the No. 1 spot as well, John Peers.

Robert Lindstedt: He is one of the really nice guys on Tour and I am really happy for him. Not only because I have known him for so long, but also because I know the physical struggles he has had with injuries – and to overcome that is, to me, a true sign of a champion.

Treat Huey: Huge congratulations to Henri for reaching World No. 1. He’s one of the younger doubles guys on the Tour right now and is an incredible shot maker. He’s a good dude that enjoys himself on the court and Tour and he’s going to be around the top of the game for many years to come.