He may have just become the eldest player in tennis history to be ranked world number one, but Roger Federer still retains a desire to learn from those that have gone before him.

As he closes in on 100 career titles, Federer has expressed his admiration for legendary player Bjorn Borg and has revealed that he would have loved to have stepped on court against the Swede.

Borg won 64 career titles, including 11 grand slams, during an imperious ten-year run at the top of the game between 1973-1983. He then shocked the tennis world by retiring at the age of 26.

By contrast, 36-year-old Federer is now in the 20th year of a career which has seen him claim 20 grand slam championships, the most recent of which being his Australian Open victory last month.

The Swiss legend took his haul of career titles to 97 last weekend when he beat Grigor Dimitrov to win the Rotterdam Open. 

Federer's continued accomplishments have inevitably seen some hail him as the greatest player in the history of the game, but Federer was quick to praise Borg when he was asked to name his dream opponent from another era.

"If I had a time machine, I would like to head to the court against Bjorn Borg," Federer said, per The Express. "He was such an elegant and complete player from the back of the court.

Borg served as captain of Team Europe and worked alongside Federer as they successfully defeated Team World to lift the inaugural Laver Cup in September last year - an experience that Federer revealed he greatly enjoyed.

"He was my captain in 2017 during the inaugural Laver Cup. He was super. We spoke a lot and he told me about how tennis was at his time."

Federer has confirmed that he expects to play on for at least another year, and, whilst he has chosen not to participate in this week's Dubai Tennis Championship in order to rest, he will undoubtedly be keen to hit a century of titles before he eventually ends his illustrious career.

His next expected tournament entry comes at Indian Wells in the BNP Paribas Open in March, when Federer will hope to retain the title he won in 2017.