It is a scenario that would have seemed far-fetched at the start of the 2017 season, when Roger Federer had just returned from a six-month injury layoff without having won a major in nearly five years.

But the tennis pendulum has been swinging so wildly of late that it is practically unhinged.

Federer, at 36 years old, finds himself in the Dutch port of Rotterdam, just three rungs from the top of the tennis ladder with no major champions blocking his ascent.

Reconquering the No. 1 ranking was not his primary goal when he took his growing family back on the road in early 2017, and it is hard to imagine that he would have braved more jet lag to make it happen this soon after winning the Australian Open on Jan. 28.

“One doesn’t get the feeling that Roger would be too crushed if he never reaches No. 1 again,” said Jim Courier, a former No. 1 player.