For the first time in his career Roger Federer has taken a break of unknown duration from tennis after being at the helm of affairs for more than four-and-a-half years.

This is what he had to say after withdrawing from the Stockholm Open: “2008 has been a tough year for me as I was always playing catch-up after being diagnosed with mononucleosis at the beginning of the year. I feel fortunate to be healthy again, but I want to remain at the top of the game for many years to come and go after the No.1 ranking. In order to do that, I need to get a proper rest and get strong again so that I am 100% fit for the remainder of the year or next year.

''At this point, I am not sure when I will be ready to play again, but I hope to be back at some point before the end of the year. I apologise to the tennis fans in Sweden as I was looking forward to playing in Stockholm again. The country has produced so many incredible tennis players and the tournament has such a great history. I hope to be able to come back at some point in the future.”

A good follower of tennis should be puzzled to hear something of that sort from Federer. "I hope to be able to come back at some point in the future" is a line that should send chills down the spine of every Federer fan.

Even though Federer doesn't look muscular, one has to admit that he is one of the fittest guys on tour. To come year after year and have a go at the No.1 ranking one needs to be insanely motivated, fit and talented. Federer has done it for 237 weeks on the trot.

Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray will now know exactly what it takes to be world No.1 - and what it takes to stay there for such a long period of time, which Federer has done with poise and ease. With tall and hard hitting young guns like Juan Martin Del Potro, Marian Cilic and Ernests Gulbis on the horizon, the job to stay on top becomes that much harder.

For me, there are three possible reasons why Federer has taken a break right after winning the US Open:

1) He doesn't want to continue like he did after being diagnosed by mononucleosis early this year.

2) He has to perform exceedingly well in the remainder of the tournaments this year and hope Nadal loses badly if he is to have any chance of reclaiming the No.1 spot.

3) He wants to come back fitter, stronger and extremely motivated to win the two Grand Slams he needs to surpass the 14 of the legendary Pete Sampras.

Federer's primary target right now is to get to his 14th major title in the first half of next year, and then achieve the 15th as quickly as he can so he can be named the greates player ever to have held a tennis racquet. A French Open title in his bag should put every possible debate to rest.

While it is easy to take a break, it is not that easy to get back to top form after that break. Any tennis that is close to this year's performance should bring him the desired results. After all, he lost to Nadal twice in this year's Grand Slam finals so not seeing him at the other end of the net in any future finals should make him breathe easier.

The positive or negative effects of the break will be discovered by the end of this year. In the meantime, the absence of Federer in the coming few tournaments should provide an extra incentive to the likes of Andy Roddick, James Blake, Lleyton Hewitt, Fernando Gonzalez, David Nalbandian etc.

People will be waiting with bated breath to see the return of a rejuvenated Federer. But if they're waiting to see his 2007 performance in 2009, that can be found only in the DVDs. Flashes of that jaw-dropping performance seen now will be spoken in higher regard from here on.