Roger Federer's resurgence has already out-stripped his expectations, but the Swiss great says relishing the game is more important now than chasing a ranking. Sidelined some six months after knee surgery last year, Federer came back to win his 18th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January.
After a hiccup in Dubai, where he was stunned by world number 116 Evgeny Donskoy, Federer has emerged from one of the toughest draws in ATP history to reach the final of the Indian Wells Masters.
"I forgot how tough the draw actually was," Federer said of the quarter that included him along with world number two Novak Djokovic and number six Rafael Nadal, along with former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, dangerous young Australian Nick Kyrgios and talented German Alexander Zverev.
And why not, since Federer has booked a title showdown with fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka without once dropping serve as world number one Andy Murray, Djokovic and the rest fell by the wayside.
But Federer, currently ranked 10th in the world, said he isn't tempted to start dreaming of a return to number one just yet, even with Murray pulling out of next week's Miami Masters with an elbow injury and Djokovic reported to be bothered by elbow trouble as 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," he said.