Roland Garros

Most players would love to have a 'year to forget' such as the one Roger Federer has experienced in 2008.

Knocked off your perch as world number one after almost five years at the summit, usurped by a young Spaniard nicknamed the 'King of Clay' but seemingly not destined to be master of your all-weather, all surface tennis universe up until a final to surpass all finals at Wimbledon.

Add Rafael Nadal's Olympic success and suddenly the 'Fed Express' looked like he was running out of track.

Rafael Nadal says he has no intention of letting go the top ranking he fought so hard to wrest from Roger Federer, even if he insists his ascension to the summit of the men's game hasn't changed him.

But in a wide-ranging interview with Tuesday's French sports daily L'Equipe the muscular Spaniard insisted new goals had to be set and met - starting with expanding his Grand Slam portfolio beyond Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

"Nowadays, when I go on court, I don't say I am number one, number two - or number 50. I am there to win," Nadal insisted.

Roger Federer has confirmed he will compete in this week's Paris Masters Series tournament, erasing doubts over his participation.

Federer won his hometown tournament in Basel for the third time in a row on Sunday and indicated afterward that he might revise his plans to save energy for the season-ending Masters finals in Shanghai next month.

But the director of the Paris tournament, Jean-Francois Caujolle, confirmed on Monday that the Swiss star would be present as he attempts to land his first Mastrs Series title of the season after two final losses.

For many reasons, 2008 was a season that went against convention. Would you have guessed that, heading into the US Open, Roger Federer and Justine Henin would have no Grand Slam titles between them? It’s been a very interesting year, no matter which player you support.
 
Typically, the four Grand Slam tournaments have a way of revealing everything in tennis, and that happened again this year, for better or worse:
 
The Best…
 

Rafael Nadal has set his sights on ending 2008 in the world number one spot he claimed on Monday from Roger Federer.

Swiss ace Federer had held top spot in the sport for a record 237 consecutive weeks, with Nadal spending 160 weeks in second.

However, following a stunning 2008 in which Nadal has won eight ATP singles titles, including the French Open and Wimbledon, plus gold at the Olympic Games, the 22-year-old Spaniard has became the top-ranked player for the first time in his career.

He was a 15-year-old kid playing in his first ATP-level tournament, but already you could see the power -- that left arm was freakishly muscular, reminiscent of another lefty, Rod Laver -- the quickness, the ball-striking ability. Oh, and the hunger. It burned in his brown eyes with a startling intensity.

Whether it is fair or not, Novak Djokovic has become a forgotten player during the past two months.

The third-ranked Serb was on top of the tennis world in January when he won his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open.

Djokovic carried that momentum to a victory at Indian Wells in March and in early May, he won the claycourt event in Rome, leaving many to wonder if the 21-year-old was ready to challenge for the French Open trophy.

Ascendancy and artistry collided to create a classic on Centre Court when Rafael Nadal dethroned five-time defending champion Roger Federer 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-7(8), 9-7 triumph in Sunday's epic Wimbledon final that spanned four hours, 48 minutes.

It was the second straight Grand Slam championship for Nadal, who hit his way into history as the first man since Bjorn Borg in 1980 to sweep Roland Garros and Wimbledon in succession, snapping Federer's 40-match Wimbledon winning streak in the process.

It hasn't been Roger Federer's year.

Illness hampered the Swiss at the start of the campaign, with tough losses and listless play seeping into his game like never before.

At least he still had Wimbledon to count on, right? Not after Sunday.

Nemesis Rafael Nadal inflicted more disappointment in an epic final, adding to Federer's woe.

Here's a look at how 2008 has panned out for the world No. 1.

New Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal is among a star trio announced as the first qualifiers for the 2008 Tennis Masters Cup. The Spaniard will join four-time champion Roger Federer of Switzerland, whom he beat in an epic Wimbledon final, and Serbian Novak Djokovic at the prestigious circuit finale, to be held for the fourth year at Shanghai’s Qi Zhong Stadium from November 9-16.