Roger Federer celebrated his return to the top of the world rankings by winning the Rotterdam Open here on Sunday for his 97th title.
The 36-year-old, the oldest ATP No.1 in history, thrashed Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-2 in a one-sided final.
In the Open era, only American Jimmy Connors has won more titles than Federer, with 109.
This was his third victory in Rotterdam following successes in 2005 and 2012. The Swiss, who won the Australian Open last month, also improved his head-to-head record against World No. 5 Dimitrov to 7-0
Federer had entered the final on Saturday with with a 6-3, 7-6(3) victory over Italy’s Andreas Seppi despite losing sleep watching early-morning coverage of the Winter Olympics.
The 36-year-old Federer racked up his 14th win from 15 matches with 33-year-old Seppi, the World No. 81 who had enjoyed a memorable week in the Dutch port city by reaching the semifinals as a ‘lucky loser’.
Federer said he did not get much sleep due to the excitement of his latest achievement and draining more energy by watching the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in the pre-dawn hours.
Federer also dropped a big hint that he still might play the Dubai tournament, which begins a week from Monday.
The seven-time winner of the Gulf tournament said that he will take a decision later in the week one way or the other. “It’s still open,” he said.
The result:
Final: Roger Federer bt Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-2.
Semifinal: Federer bt Andreas Seppi 6-3, 7-6(3) .
