The Swiss legend, who claimed his 20th Grand Slam at the Australian Open last month, will be competing in the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.
His chances of reaching the summit of tennis once again were given a boost when Nick Kyrgios pulled out of the tournament with an elbow injury.
The 36-year-old last topped the rankings in 2012 and holds the record for the most weeks spent at No 1 (302).
In order to achieve his goal, Federer needs to reach the semi-finals in Rotterdam.
However, standing in his way will be compatriot Stan Wawrinka, who he could meet in the quarter-finals.
Wawrinka goes into the competition of the ATP World Tour 500 event as the fifth seed and is through to the semi-finals of the Diema Xtra Sofia Open in Bulgaria.
Federer will take on a qualifier in the first round on Rotterdam and could meet either German Philipp Kohlschreiber or Russian Karen Khachanov in round two.
As far as Wawrinka is concerned, Federer dominates in the head-to-head, winning 20 of their 23 clashes.
Federer, who is 36 years old, will also surpass Andre Agassi as the oldest player to become No 1 in the world should he get past Wawrinka.
As things stand, he is just 155 points behind current No 1 Rafael Nadal, who isn’t expected to return to action until later this month.
And Federer boasts a good record in Rotterdam, winning twice in eight appearances at the tournament.