Roger Federer won't bulk up schedule to retain No. 1 ranking

By Kamakshi Tandon Mar 20, 2017
Wimbledon

Debating best-of-three sets vs. best-of-five

By Steve Tignor May 21, 2021
Wimbledon

The Tennis Conversation: Tim Henman

By Matt Fitzgerald May 21, 2021

The Pick: Lorenzo Musetti vs. Sebastian Korda, ATP Lyon second round

By Cale Hammond May 18, 2021

In Geneva, Roger Federer loses clay-court comeback to Pablo Andujar

By John Berkok May 18, 2021

The Pick: Jannik Sinner vs. Aslan Karatsev, ATP Lyon first round

By Cale Hammond May 17, 2021

Officials deny that 2022 Australian Open could move

By Kamakshi Tandon May 17, 2021

Week in Preview: Serena, Federer lead stars tuning up for French Open

By Steve Tignor May 17, 2021

Nadal finds the final answer for Djokovic in roller coaster Rome final

By Steve Tignor May 16, 2021

Rafael Nadal battles past Novak Djokovic to win Rome for 10th time

By John Berkok May 16, 2021

Roger Federer won't bulk up schedule to retain No. 1 ranking

The Swiss would love to be No. 1 again, but maintains that it's n

ByKamakshi Tandon

Published Mar 20, 2017

Roger Federer says he will not be adding tournaments to his schedule in a bid to return to No. 1 in the rankings.

Having started Indian Wells ranked No. 10, Federer moved up to No. 6 with his victory in the desert, and is making up ground on No. 1 Andy Murray and No. 2 Novak Djokovic. Murray, who has more than 12,000 ranking points, and Djokovic, with just under 9,000 points, both have a substantial lead on Federer, who has 4,305 points, much of it from winning the Australian Open. But Federer has a lot more room to add points, including this week in Miami, where Murray and Djokovic have withdrawn with injuries.

But Federer said that reaching the top spot would require significantly more.

“The Grand Slams give so many points that that's probably where I would have to make a huge run again,” the 18-time major champion said. “And maybe one is not enough, as well, because they will pick up their level of play. They will pick up their game, and they're going to win tournaments again."

Advertising

Though he does not plan to decide his clay-court schedule before Miami, Federer said he would not be playing more simply to help his ranking.

"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," he said at Indian Wells following his semifinal victory. "I want to play. If people see me, they see the real me and a guy who's so excited that he's there."

Federer acknowledged that reaching No. 1 still has an allure, but emphasized that he was not generally concerned about his ranking position, even though his relatively low seeding led to him being in the same quarter of the draw as Djokovic and Rafael Nadal at Indian Wells.

Advertising

"Yeah, sure, I'd love to be world No. 1 again,” he said. “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."