Switzerland's Roger Federer returns a shot during his men's singles tennis match against Lucas Pouille of France in the third round of the Paris Masters tennis tournament at the Bercy sports hall in Paris, October 30, 2014. REUTERS/Benoit Tessie
Switzerland's Roger Federer returns a shot during his men's singles tennis match against Lucas Pouille of France in the third round of the Paris Masters tennis tournament at the Bercy sports hall in Paris, October 30, 2014. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier Reuters

There's Kobe Bryant of basketball, Tiger Woods of golf and Roger Federer of tennis. All three men are aging like fine wine in their own arenas and continued to chase the glory in their respective sports despite circumstances of longevity. These men have been head and shoulders above their peers for so long that it has been almost unfair. With Bryant and Woods already showing signs of waning and accepting their final voyage into relevancy, Federer is holding on and trying to defy odds by capturing his sixth number one ranking.

At age 33, he is defying odds when no men older than him have gone before. Legendary players Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi faded and passed the torch to them and the likes of Adny Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt and rival Rafael Nadal as they reached their mid-30s. The Swiss sensation is not about ready to pass the baton just yet.

This was on full display Sunday as he displayed a fiery intensity against Milos Raonic shutting him down in straight sets, 6-1, 7-6 (7-0) during his Group B opener of the Barclays ATP World Tour Final. The performance was maybe in part because Roanic ruined his chances to secure the top spot a little over a week ago when Raonic knocked him out of the Paris Masters 1000. As reported by the Times of India, Federer relayed how much capturing the coveted top spot means to him.

"I think that would be very special because I've been there and I know how much it would mean," Federer said. "Because winning a tournament is a one-week thing or a two-week thing, but getting back to world No. 1 is an entirely different animal."

With the loss to Raonic in Paris, the window to getting the top spot is now essentially out of his hands. Djokovic will have to at least win only his first three round robin matches to retain his top ranking. Fans of Federer was counting on Marin Cilic to deliver the upset Monday and replicate his U.S. Open success but the top ranked player did his job and won handily, 6-1, 6-1, in 55 easy minutes.

Now, the accomplished father of a pair of twins and the winner of 17 titles is just hoping against hope and doing his best unmindful of what happens with Djokovic's efforts. He relays that while at the onset of the year he was not targeting the top ranking and just focusing on getting at least a title in this year's go around, he will just do his best to get what is due him. He also revealed that while he respected the rivalry with Djokovic he treasures the bond and competitiveness with Spaniard Rafael Nadal, who was his peer and rival at the time that they were climbing up the tennis prominence ladder. For now, all he can hope is that Kei Nishikori delivers a stunner Tuesday and aid him in his quest to get that special number one feeling.