Federer to end super season with payday in Korea

By Bill Scott Nov 20, 2006, 9:58 GMT

Shanghai - Roger Federer faces one more task in tennis after completing another superlative ATP year by lifting his third Masters Cup shield from the past four editions at the weekend.

The Swiss superman ended the official 2006 season with a dozen trophies, a 92-5 match record as he hammered James Blake 6-0, 6-3, 6- 4 in the final of the elite wrapup event.

Federer has banked more than eight million dollars in on-court winnings and will top up that tidy sum on Tuesday with an exhibition match in Korea.

The hit-and-giggle with Rafael Nadal will be a well-paid repeat of Saturday's semi-final, where the Swiss claimed only his third career victory over the Spanish world number 2.

But once his duties in Seoul are sorted, Federer will be looking forward to a few weeks of interrupted down time before setting his mind to yet another round of record-breaking in 2007.

'I had to laugh at one stage how well I was playing,' admitted the Swiss. 'I always came up with a great answer.

'I was in control pretty much all the time.'

'Everything I wanted to do worked. To come to this point in my career where I feel so happy with my game, it's come such a long way, you know, that I also am out of words really to describe this performance.'

The 25-year-old will begin training alongside veteran Australian coach Tony Roche at the pair's practise base in Dubai, Federer's favourite hideaway.

Blake took his medicine, but can see a boatload of positives from his breakthrough this season after suffering a neck injury and a serious facial illness in 2004.

'Just getting beat like that brings you down a little bit,' he admitted. 'But when you realize the level of tennis that was displayed, it still keeps me positive.

'It also keeps me thinking that although it looked like I got just destroyed out there today, I feel like I'm still one of the best in the world.

'That's something that I never would have been able to say, never would have had the confidence to even think about uttering those words a couple years ago.

'I wasn't ever thinking about the ranking, but now to know that I'm going to be ranked No. 4 in the world to end the year, it's a great feeling. 'That's why I'm not ashamed of anything that happened out there today because I did my best, and he was just a level above.'

If he were to suddenly not lift a racket until next February 26, Federer has enough points to remain number 1 until that date, according to ATP calculations.

On that date he will also overtake Jimmy Connors' 160 continuous weeks on the number 1 ranking.