Roger Federer moved a step closer to reclaiming the top spot in men’s tennis when he beat Belgium’s Ruben Bemelmans 6-1, 6-2 in the ABN Amro Rotterdam Open on Wednesday.
The 36-year-old needs only to reach the semifinals at the ABN Amro tennis event to overtake Rafael Nadal at the top of the ATP rankings and become World No. 1 for the first time since November 2012.
He captured the first set from the 116th-ranked Bemelmans in only 19 minutes, having won the first five games with a flurry of fine shot-making, picking up where he left off in Melbourne last month where he won the first Grand Slam of the year. Federer had Bemelmans scampering all over the court to retrieve the ball but it always looked a hopeless task. The Belgian pulled the score back to 3-2 in the second set but that was the last game he managed and Federer finished the job in 46 minutes.
Federer would surpass American Andre Agassi as the oldest top-ranked player if he wins his next two matches here.
The results: Second round: Andreas Seppi bt Alexander Zverev 6-4, 6-3; Tomas Berdych bt Viktor Troicki 6-1, 6-2; David Goffin bt Feliciano Lopez 6-1, 6-3; Grigor Dimitrov bt Filip Krajinovic 7-6(4), 7-5.
First round: Roger Federer bt Ruben Bemelmans 6-1, 6-2.
