Roger Federer Roger Federer finished 2010 with a winning flourish after starting the year with a Grand Slam title, laying down a marker for the future with his defeat of Rafael Nadal to claim his third title from his last four events on the ATP.

The Swiss, who finished the year second behind Nadal - winner of the last three Grand Slams and hoping to take aim at a fourth straight in Australia next month - put himself pathway back to the top with his sensational end to the season over Nadal at the World Tour Finals in London. Federer ended with five titles overall, but also lost his Roland Garros and Wimbledon crowns to his Iberian rival.

"I've had a good season," said the 16-time Grand Slam champion. "I had some tough losses, sure. You're not going to win every tournament you play. Obviously I can't make 16 out of 17 finals like I did back in 2005. It's just not realistic.

"I've won five titles, won a Slam - everything was there. I think physically I was better than the last two seasons. That obviously makes me be very positive for next year, that I believe I can have another great season in 2011, which is important to feel."

While the top of the men's game is well-sorted and has been for the last few years - Federer and Nadal have won 21 of the last 23 Grand Slams - the women's WTA remains in disarray after another campaign.

Dane Caroline Wozniacki holds the number one spot but is still without a Grand Slam title to prove her place. The apparent foot injury which threatens the career of Serena Williams - she has not played since winning Wimbledon in July - has left the future of the former top-ranked player and her 30-year-old elder sister Venus the most open question in tennis.

Wozniacki's best Grand Slam performance of the season was a US Open semi-final, with the 20-year-old barely edging into the second week in Melbourne and Wimbledon.

Russian Vera Zvonareva, who attends a Moscow diplomatic course in the off-season, stands second thanks to runner-up finishes at the US Open and Wimbledon. US Open winner Kim Clijsters still has the will to play at age 27 but has said she will considering giving up her career when her daughter reaches school age in a few years.

And the Serbian surge which took Jelena Jankovic and 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic briefly to number one in 2008 has faded away, with Jankovic standing eighth and number 17 Ivanovic showing renewed signs of life after winning the second-tier year-end event in Bali.

After losing the year-end final to Clijsters in Doha, Wozniacki felt she needs time to absorb her season. "I'm going to enjoy my break. I'm going to have a few weeks off, and then I can start working hard again and be even better in January than I was now," she said.

Meanwhile, the endless supply of women's teenage talent seems to be tapering off, with over-30 Roland Garros holder Francesca Schiavone standing seventh and 29-year-old Elena Dementieva packing in her career to work on starting a family.

Federer (five titles, one Slam and the year-end event) and Nadal (three Slams, three Masters 1000s) ended 2010 as the dominant ATP pair, with the trio of Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Swede Robin Soderling all struggling to join the elite.

But the three hopefuls had only limited success, with Murray finally starting to find his feet at the London event when he put up a semi-final challenge before losing to Nadal. The Scot has had months to finally shake the stigma of his Australian Open loss to Federer 11 month ago and vows to work hard in Miami over the off- season to prepare for another run in Melbourne.

Djokovic had the Davis Cup final extending his season into early December, but the Serb's hunger to rise in the rankings will spur him on into the New Year when he begins January 1 in Perth. Soderling has holidays on his mind before returning to the tennis battles in Australia.

Elsewhere, German Tommy Haas picked up an American passport and a new baby, as did Lleyton Hewitt, whose wife gave him a third child. Roland Garros officials pondered a move outside of Paris with their venue squeezed for space and the US Open stubbornly refused to consider building a court with a roof despite three years of men's finals rain outs.

الموضوع الاصلى : Federer shows in 2010 that he's far from done المصدر :منتدياتالأكام الكاتب: الأمير