Roger Federer isn’t thinking about a return trip to the world No. 1 ranking.
Maybe he should.
Closer to Rafael Nadal than he thinks–or cares to admit–he is, Federer bagged 200 more points when he beat Marin Cilic 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-1 during round-robin action at the World Tour Finals on Thursday afternoon. The Swiss struck 17 aces and saved the only break point he faced before getting the job done in one hour and 54 minutes.
With 600 points to his credit already at this tournament, Federer–who also defeated Jack Sock and Alexander Zverev in Group B–is now 1040 points behind Nadal. The 36-year-old can pick up 900 more points (400 with a semifinal win and 500 with a final win) and go into 2018 a mere 140 short of Nadal, who lost his London opener to David Goffin and then withdrew because of a knee injury.
But Federer isn’t focused on No. 1.
“I have 2,000 points to defend in Australia; he doesn’t,” the reigning Australian Open champion explained. “So there’s the problem already. I know he has a lot of points to defend, too, but not as many as me. That’s why I always said it’s not a realistic goal in some ways, world No. 1. It’s the ultimate achievement in tennis in some ways–it always has been for me. But at this age, it just can’t be because I think I’ll make mistakes if I start chasing it. I’m not sure how much the body allows me to chase goals like this.
“Still far away from being close in the points with Rafa. Still need to win this tournament before it’s actually really close.”
Winning the tournament would give Federer his eighth title of 2017, which includes triumphs at the Aussie Open and at Wimbledon. Nadal, meanwhile, also captured two majors among his six titles.
“The year played out the way it did, and Rafa was better,” Federer admitted. “He deserves to be there. I’m really happy for him because he had a rough season, as well, in ’16. It’s great for him.”
Nadal was better–at times–but also played more. The Spaniard concluded his year with 78 matches under his belt. Federer has contested 55 so far. But the 19-time Grand Slam champ has no regrets about his schedule, which featured a grand total of zero clay-court tournaments.
“I don’t have any (regrets),” Federer said. “But maybe losing to Tommy Haas (in Suttgart) and (Evgeny) Donskoy (in Dubai) ended up haunting me. I had match points in both matches…. I have no regrets because I totally over-exceeded my expectations. (I’m ) just happy I’m injury-free and healthy right now; enjoying myself, still. Then in Australia, I just hope to be fit again, to walk out on Rod Laver Arena and hopefully defend my title. But (it’s) still very far away at this point.”
The reality, however, is that the Australian Open is not very far away. And neither is the No. 1 ranking.
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