ROGER Federer finished 2019 as he had begun it – in third spot on the ATP Tour rankings. He dropped as low as seventh at one point and this season has been far from one of his most glamorous, but you can never write the Swiss Master off.

Rank: #3
Wins: 53
Losses: 10
Titles: 3
Prize Money: $8,716,975

By Federer’s incredibly high standards, 2019 would have been considered a fail, adding no more Grand Slams to his littered CV, and winning just the four tournaments – only one of which was an ATP Masters title. Aside from his Masters’ win in Miami, Federer claimed wins in Dubai, Halle and Basel – all of which he has been a regular trophy collector. Especially Basel, where in front of his home fans, Federer took home his fifth consecutive title – aside from where he did not play due to injury in 2016 – and tenth overall. In his heyday, Federer was winning double-figure titles, and whilst he might not be what he once was, he has been able to bounce back from what looked like a career-ending injury in 2016, to be still competing at the elite level at 38-years-old.

He continued his dominant run on grass, dropping only a five-setter in the Wimbledon final to Novak Djokovic, whilst winning nine of a possible 11 on clay. After winning the first set, Federer won a strong 92 per cent of the time, and still managed to win just over 50 per cent when dropping the first set. His most disappointing loss would have been to 78th ranked Grigor Dimitrov in the Quarter Finals at the US Open, which came a couple of weeks after going down in straight sets to Andrey Rublev in Cincinnati. He also helped raise Stefanos Tsitsipas‘ profile in January when he fell to the then 15th ranked young Greek in the Round of 16.

While the year was not his best – and keeping in mind given his age he will not be able to deliver his absolute best – he showed by his ATP Finals win over Djokovic that he can still beat the world’s best and is ever-dangerous.