On This Day: Federer rises to No. 1 for first time in 2004

As the first story in our new series looking at key dates in ATP No. 1 Club history, we reflect on Roger Federer's historic debut reign as No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings, which began on 2 February 2004.

Before there was a Big 3 or a Big 4, there was Roger Federer at World No. 1. On 2 February 2004, the Swiss maestro first claimed the throne atop the PIF ATP Rankings. After No. 1 honours changed hands five times in 2003, Federer made it his own in 2004 and would not relinquish his place for a record 237 weeks, when Rafael Nadal debuted at No. 1 in August 2008.

By beating former World No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero in the 2004 Australian Open semi-finals, Federer was guaranteed to pass Andy Roddick for the top spot. But in typical Federer fashion, he went on to win the title, beating Marat Safin in a straight-sets final.

“I’m happy to have had a great start now to the season, and to finally be No. 1,” Federer said at the time. “And it does make me feel really strange.”

The Swiss quickly grew accustomed to his lofty standing, which came on the heels of a seven-title season in 2003. Among those trophies were his maiden Grand Slam triumph at Wimbledon and his first title at the Tennis Masters Cup (now the Nitto ATP Finals) — plus at least one title on each ATP Tour surface. In the 12 months prior to his debut at No. 1, Federer won 80 matches.

Federer owned just two Grand Slams and one ATP Masters 1000 trophy when he first rose to No. 1. By the time his initial stint ended, he was a 12-time major champion and a 14-time ATP Masters 1000 champ.

It took 18 years from the time Federer debuted at No. 1 for someone outside of the Big 4 to claim the top spot. The Federer-Nadal-Djokovic-Murray monopoly was broken in February 2022 by Daniil Medvedev.

Federer remains the only Swiss player to have risen to World No. 1. In addition to his record 237 weeks at the summit in his initial stint, Federer also owned two other notable No. 1 records until being passed by Novak Djokovic. He spent the last of his 310 total weeks at No. 1 in 2018, a record number of weeks until Djokovic overtook him in 2021. The Swiss was 36 years and 10 months old when he spent his final week at No. 1 in June 2018, making him the oldest No. 1 until Djokovic claimed that honour in 2024.

With a 430-56 match record during his time at No. 1, according to the Infosys Win/Loss Index, Federer's 88.5 per cent win rate is fifth-highest among the 29 No. 1s in the history of the PIF ATP Rankings.