Federer will have sat on top of the world rankings for a record 238 weeks by the time he is supplanted by Rafael Nadal on August 18.The Swiss has had a poor year by his lofty standards, failing to win a grand slam with just the US Open to come this season.
Success in China would go some way to alleviating the disappointment and the 27-year-old certainly looked impressive in his opening-round 6-4 6-2 victory over Russia's Dmitry Tursunov.
"My goal is to try to get the number one ranking back," he said afterwards.
"You can't keep your ranking forever. I think you have to have a different approach, see what the next step is.
"What I don't like to do because you don't play so well is freak out and have emergency meetings. That's not going to happen."
