Roger Federer world No.1 return eclipsed as ATP rankings are confirmed

Roger Federer may have stormed back to the top of the world rankings - eclipsing Andre Agassi as the oldest player in tennis history to do so - on his way to winning the Rotterdam Open but his gains were overshadowed by several of his contemporaries in the ATP rankings.

By reaching the semi-finals, the 36-year-old secured the 180 rankings points he needed to go above Rafael Nadal in the standings while victory in the Netherlands ensures he will begin attempts to defend the Sunshine double – the BNP Paribas Open and Miami Open – top of the tree.

But it wasn't only Federer who enjoyed a significant week with players further down the rankings securing impressive results which saw their standing in the men's game dramatically improve.

Beaten Rotterdam finalist Grigor Dimitrov was able to replace Alex Zverev in the top four, as the Bulgarian benefited from a decent run of form stretching back to his victory at the ATP World Tour Finals in London.

Among those to make inroads further down was Italian Andreas Seppi, who maintained his encouraging start to 2018 – following victory in the Canberra Challenger and a fourth-round appearance at the Australian Open – by reaching the last four in Rotterdam.

The 33-year-old was eventually downed by the all-conquering Federer in the semi-finals but was rewarded for the display by rising up 22 places and now sits 59<sup>th in the world, laying the platform for the rest of the season.

The challenger circuit helped Australian Jordan Thompson return to the top 100 again after he won the Chennai Open by beating home favourite Yuki Bhambri in the final in three sets. The 23-year-old is now ranked 95<sup>th.

In a week where the evergreen Federer stole the show, a player two years his senior made a surge up the rankings himself as Ivo Karlovic's quarter-final appearance at the inaugural New York Open was enough to see him rise 11 places to 78<sup>th in the world.

In an American-dominated field, the Croatian beat Jared Donaldson and Ryan Harrison in straight sets before fellow-big server Sam Querrey – the eventual runner-up – ousted him in the last eight.

British passport-holding Slovenian Aljaz Bedene went up eight places thanks to his runner-up spot at the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires. Meanwhile, Frenchman Gael Monfils [39], Russian Andrey Rublev [3] and South African Kevin Anderson – the new world number nine – all improved on their ranking.

The biggest fallers included French duo Pierre-Hugues Herbert [80 to 99] and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga [19 to 27] – who withdrew from defending his Rotterdam Open title with injury. Americans Harrison and Donald Young – who clashed in the first round in New York – fell after premature exits in the Big Apple.