A spirited Roger Federer has stepped up his comeback winning the Australian Open and Indian Wells titles and may well rise to the top of tennis says world No. 3 Stan Wawrinka.
The three-time Grand Slam champion, who fell to his former doubles partner in the Indian Wells final, says Federer has "a big shot at (regaining) No. 1."
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"He's playing really well, what is different maybe is he is playing closer from the baseline, preferring, using less his slice, he is using more top spin, putting more pressure all the time, returning better that's the difference I seem," Wawrinka told the media at the Miami Open. "For sure he has a shot at No. 1, he has just won the first Masters final. For sure he has a big shot."
Wawrinka and Federer joined forces to capture the Olympic gold medal in doubles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and reunited leading Switzerland to the 2014 Davis Cup championship.
The 35-year-old Federer has vaulted to No. 6 in the ATP rankings. Federer can gain ground on world No. 1 Andy Murray and second-ranked Novak Djokovic, who both cited elbow issues withrawing from Miami, with a strong run this week.
The 18-time Grand Slam champion has no ranking points to defend after Wimbledon and if Federer and Wawrinka stay healthy both men could make a run at the top spot.
"It is going to be interesting to see," Wawrinka said. "Rafa (Nadal) is playing well also and we will see when Novak (Djokovic) and Andy (Murray) are back from injury, it is going to be really interesting for tennis fans."
Photo credit: ITF/Davis Cup