Roger Federer has stressed about No.1 ranking quest

Melbourne, Mar 23 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer has stressed that holding his world number one spot in rankings is close to a `mini goal` for him as he is anticipating protect his title at the Miami Open.

With a specific end goal to hold his numero-uno spot, Federer is required to make it to the quarter-finals of the Miami Open or else he would be outperformed by his long-lasting adversary Rafael Nadal of Spain.

"The number one ranking is in my mind somewhat, however close to that. It's a smaller than expected objective. It is decent to remain there yet it's not any more important than that," news.com.au quoted Federer, as saying.

Though Federer admitted that the quest of retaining the number one spot helps in keeping a player inspired, the disappointment of the same would not end his playing career.

"You have to win matches to go far here. Going sufficiently far to remain number one, it encourages my inspiration to have an objective. In any case, regardless of whether I don't oversee it, it's not the apocalypse," Federer said.

Federer will start his Miami Open crusade against an Australian qualifier Thanasi Kokkinakis on Saturday.