'Million reasons to be motivated' says Roger Federer talking about injury return and ranking

Roger Federer has reaffirmed his commitment to the sport after admitting that he has a number of reasons to stay motivated and continue playing on the ATP tour.

The Swiss ace has made his best start to a season since 2006 having won three of the four tournaments he has played. Federer added an 18<sup>th Grand Slam title to his vast array of titles in January before completing the 'sunshine double' with titles in Indian Wells and Miami.

The 35-year-old's future in the game was questioned after he missed six months in 2016 due to a knee injury, but his blistering start this season has dispelled any doubts about his ability to win and compete at the highest level.

Federer has risen from world number 17 at the start of the year to world number four in the span of three months. Another Grand Slam win will put him on course to finishing the season as the world number one.

The 18-time men's singles Grand Slam champion, however, has made it clear that chasing the number one ranking, currently held by Andy Murray, is not his priority at the moment. Federer is keen to remain fit and continue his good run throughout the rest of the 2017 campaign.

"I still enjoy travelling the tour, otherwise I wouldn't be here, playing in front of fans, doing fun events, it might be speaking to the media sometimes, or doing it all with my family or my team. Playing for my country. There are a million reasons to be motivated," Federer said, as quoted by Tennis World USA.

"I am very relaxed, maybe more relaxed than I've been in a long time. I think I am also rejuvenated, refreshed after the break I had last year.

"I really thought that I was gonna be top ten maybe by midyear, hopefully by the end of the year. Expectations were so low just because of the nature of the year I had last year, so all of a sudden things are going great and so I just want to keep it that way. I just want to stay positive right now," the Swiss tennis star added.