Roger Federer's Play at Swiss Indoors Basel 2014 Proves He Should End Year No. 1

In a development that would have been shocking a few months ago, Roger Federer has a chance to be the No. 1 player in the world at the end of the season. 

Finishing the year on top of the rankings is not something new for the 33-year-old veteran, who has accomplished the feat five times (2004-2007, 2009). However, he lacked consistency over the past few years and was seemingly passed in ability by Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and others.

As of March of this year, Federer had dropped to No. 8 in the world, which was the lowest he had ranked since 2002. This was nothing to be embarrassed about at his age as someone who was clearly one of the best players in the history of the sport, but it seemed he was done being a top contender on a weekly basis.

Of course, Federer did not feel the same way, and he has played as well as ever over the past few months. After reaching the Wimbledon final, he won Masters 1000 tournaments in Cincinnati and Shanghai. He came into Basel with a seven-match winning streak, which he has extended to 11 in a row with a trip to the final.

As Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv pointed out, this continues an impressive run of performances at this tournament:

The Swiss star will now face David Goffin in the final, who is also red-hot with tournament wins in Metz, France and Mons, Belgium. However, Federer will have the home crowd at his back and has been playing almost too well to lose.

Josh Meiseles of ATPWorldTour.com notes the veteran is competing for a lot over the next few weeks:

Interestingly, Federer actually admitted in a recent press conference that getting to the top spot in the world rankings is a goal at this point:

"

Right now I am focused to win the tournament of Basel, which for me is very important. After that, we will see what happens with the rest. At this point of the season my priority has to be considered to close the year as World No.1. The Davis Cup only will arrive at the very end of the season. When that moment will come Davis Cup will be my main priority, but not for now.

"

Based on how he has performed, there is no reason to doubt him. It is not just that Federer is winning matches; it is the different ways of winning that has truly been impressive.

In the semifinals at Basel, Ivo Karlovic totaled 33 aces with one of the biggest serves around. However, Federer did a great job of attacking his opponent's second serve, especially in the third set where he won five of seven return points.

The veteran's accuracy was not the best in the quarterfinals against Grigor Dimitrov, but he came through when it mattered with a 4-of-4 effort while attempting to save break points.

While Federer might no longer have the best serve in the world, he knows what it takes to win, and his experience and intelligence allows him to stay on top. This is especially apparent when he faces younger opponents who try to get by on talent alone.

At the same time, Djokovic has struggled as of late since his win at Wimbledon. He did win a title at Beijing, but he could not reach the finals in any of the other four of his last five events. His last appearance came at Shanghai when he was defeated by Federer in straight sets.

Both players are extremely talented, but Federer has been better as of late and should continue this strong stretch over the next couple of months. This should be enough to help the Swiss star move up one more spot to No. 1 in the world rankings.

If he can pull off this feat at 33 years old, it will be one more impressive mark on his resume in the argument of the greatest all time. 

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