Roger Federer
Roger Federer has made it to his second final of 2017 following his win at the Australian Open in January

KEY POINTS

  • Federer will play Wawrinka in the final at the BNP Paribas Masters on Sunday (19 March).
  • The Swiss ace is targeting his second title of the season after his Australian Open triumph in January.

Roger Federer would love to return to the top of the world rankings and it would not be just a dream for the player that started the season ranked number 17.

The Swiss ace has made an impressive return to competitive tennis after spending six months of last season out with a knee injury. Federer won the Australian Open in January and is now in his second final at the BNP Paribas Masters at Indian Wells.

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The 35-year-old started the tournament ranked number 10 in the world, but a win on Sunday (19 March) against Stan Wawrinka will move him up least three places. The number one ranking is still a way off with Andy Murray over 8,000 points ahead at the moment.

Federer admits that he will have to win at least one more major title and many other tournaments to have a chance of reclaiming the top spot. But the 18-time Grand Slam winner has backed the Scot, who has pulled out of the Miami Masters next week with injury and world number two Novak Djokovic, who is having a bad run of form, to come back to their best level and start winning tournaments again.

Moreover, the Swiss maestro revealed that he does not intend to play as many tournaments this season with staying fit and healthy throughout the campaign his main priority rather than chasing the number one ranking.

"Well, because I'm not going to be playing so much, you would think I would need to win probably another Grand Slam for that to happen. Because I have one in the bag, I guess there is a possibility. Plus I'm playing well here again, away from the Grand Slams. But the Grand Slams give so many points that that's probably where I would have to make a huge run again. And maybe one is not enough, as well, because they will pick up their level of play," Federer said, as quoted by tennisworldusa.org.

"They will pick up their game, and they're going to win tournaments again. So, for me, just because Novak might not play Miami and Andy is not, and I'm in the finals here, it doesn't change anything in my scheduling. I'd love to be world No. 1 again. But anything else other than world No 1 for me is not interesting. So that's why the rankings is not a priority right now. It's totally about being healthy, enjoying the tournaments I'm playing and trying to win those," the former world number one added.

Roger Federer Novak Djokovic Andy Murray