For the past four years, Roger Federer has reigned as the world's top player. But since late last season he’s seemed out of sorts, experiencing uncharacteristic defeats on numerous occasions. Is the Swiss king nearing the end of his domination of the top spot?

There is no deny that Federer is one of the greatest players of all time, but he is only proving that no one is perfect. During the 2007 season, he lost in two consecutive tournaments; falling to Guillermo Canas in Miami and Indian Wells. Surprisingly he fell to Filippo Volandri of Italy 2-6 4-6 in Rome, and for a while the only players he succumbed to were Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal respectively.

But once again he fell victim in back-toback Master events, losing to David Nalbandian in Paris and Madrid. Being the fighter he is, he bounced back strong to win the Master Cup in China.

'Nadal seems to be struggling himself, and like Federer remains without a title so far this season'


Thus far in 2008, Federer hasn’t stood out as one of the top players on tour. It’s been an extremely long time since the Swiss powerhouse has been without a title by the time March rolls around. Even more astonishingly, he’s only competed into two events.

At the Australian Open, Federer started off strong just dropping six games through his first two matches. But in the fourth round Janko Tipsarevic stretched the resilient Swiss. Federer battled for more than four hours against his Serbian rival, before securing his spot in the quarter-finals with a 6-7 7-6 5-7 6-1 10-8 victory. However he failed to defend his title, falling to Djokovic in strait sets.

After taking almost two months off from the tour, he returned last week in Dubai. But in his return to the tour he fell short, beaten in the firsts round by Britain's Andy Murray. So where exactly does Federer stand at this point?

The losses he has been experiencing over the past year, have slowly caught up with him, and the rankings clearly show that is on the brink of relinquishing the top spot. Nadal lies less than 400 spots behind his rival, and Djokovic just over 1,000. But Nadal seems to be struggling himself, and like Federer remains without a title so far this season.

Djokovic, on the other hand, started the year off strongly, claiming his first Grand Slam in Melbourne, and looks to be sitting in a a great position to take over from the current No. 1. So far in 2008 he is the strongest of three player vying for the cogitated ranking.

By the end of the year, Djokovic or Nadal will be the new world No. 1. Whoever does claim the year-end ranking, will have tough competition in the year to come. When Djokovic or Nadal take over, Federer will be the one pressuring them.