Roger Federer has high expectations when he returns to action in June at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart. It will be the Swiss legend’s first tournament after his second round loss at the Miami Open in March.

The 36-year-old decided to skip the entire clay court season for the second consecutive year and made it clear it was due to his preference for grass courts over the red dirt.

Federer is targeting an unprecedented ninth Wimbledon Championship and did not want fatigue to compromise his preparation for a title assault at SW19. It paid dividends last year when he picked up his eighth title and he will be the odds on favorite to defend his title this year.

The Swiss maestro will return to action after over two months at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, which will be followed by an appearance at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany. It was the same schedule last year as he uses the two tournaments to get match fit for the third Grand Slam of the year.

However, it did not go according to script in 2017 as he lost in the second round at Stuttgart to Tommy Haas before going on to win the titles at Halle and Wimbledon. He will be keen to rectify it this time around and revealed recently he is looking forward to playing again at TC Weissenhof.

“Of course, my expectations are high on grass, and I'm looking forward to playing again in Stuttgart this year,” Federer said, as quoted by the Express. “The atmosphere at the TC Weissenhof is wonderful. You can immediately feel that there is much life in the club.”

“The tournament is very well organized and spectators are there in the matches. It's not far away from home," he added talking about one of the main reasons for returning to Stuttgart again in 2018.

Federer returned to world number two after spending just over a week as the oldest world number one in ATP history. Long-time rival Rafael Nadal has returned to the top of the men’s singles ranking.

The Spaniard is defending titles he won at Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid in 2017 to ensure he remains at the top of the standings going into the French Open. The first two tournaments posed no threat to Nadal as he swept to the titles unchallenged, and he will begin his defense in Madrid on Monday.

If Nadal fails to win in Madrid, Federer will become the world number one yet again, but the Swiss need not be concerned as he will still have a chance later in the month when the 10-time French Open winner begins his title defense at Roland Garros.

The 31-year-old will have to win on the red dirt in Paris to have a chance of starting the grass court season as the world number one. If not, Federer will be the world number one when he returns to action at the Mercedes Cup.