Roger Federer keeps saying he's still on the comeback trail, but he's covering ground faster than he ever imagined.

The Swiss, sidelined much of 2016 with a knee injury, soared to a fifth ATP Indian Wells Masters title on Sunday to go with the 18th Grand Slam crown he claimed at the Australian Open in January.

And now that he's back at number six in the world, Federer is reassessing his goals for 2017.

"This was not part of the plan, to win Australia and Indian Wells," Federer said after his 6-4, 7-5 victory over fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka in the Indian Wells final.

"The goal was to be top eight by after Wimbledon, so I'm there much, much faster.

"I will make the plan for the remainder of the season, especially for the clay, after Miami, and then see also what the goals are because the goals are clearly changing after this dream start."

Federer emerged from a daunting quarter in Indian Wells that also included world number two Novak Djokovic and 14-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal as well as former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro and rising talents Nick Kyrgios and Alexander Zverev.

Kyrgios sent Djokovic packing, and the Serbian star has since withdrawn from this week's tournament in Miami saying an elbow injury he's carried for months had worsened.

Federer wiped the floor with Nadal in Indian Wells just two months after his thrilling five-set win over the Spaniard in the Australian Open final.