Novak Djokovic will regain the no.1 spot in the ATP World Rankings at some point in the future. Former top-ranked and 17-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer assured that during a press conference ahead of the 2017 Hopman Cup.
Federer credited newly-knighted competitor Andy Murray for not only gaining the world's no.1 spot for the first time in his career but also finishing the year at the top of the rankings. Still, the Swiss Master believes the Serb is very much capable of climbing back because of his ability to come up big in Grand Slam tournaments.
"I expect Novak to be No. 1 at some point again in his career," Federer said during the conference call via Tennis.com. "It'll be hard in the next few months because of the sheer domination he had at the beginning of this year, so I think Andy will hang on to it for a while."
But then again, we have to see who stays injury-free. That plays a lot into it as well. It'll be a bit of a neck-and-neck race for the next six months to a year."
Federer also shared a simple tip to someone aspiring to compete with Djokovic and Murray for the world's no.1.
"If anybody wants to break that, they'll have to win two Slams, so it's pretty much on Novak and Andy's racquet at the moment," the 17-time Grand Slam champion said. "I've been close, but Novak had an incredible run, and it was difficult for anyone to break through him. So it's up to us to reinvent ourselves and come up with a plan to beat Novak.
Federer is scheduled to play Monday at the 2017 Hopman Cup. The world's no.16 had a modest goal ahead of the Australian Open, but promised his fans to give his best everytime he steps in the court.