PARIS: 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.
Losing Wimbledon was "rough," Federer recalled with neat understatement on Wednesday after reaching the third round of the Paris Masters - an event where he has some unfinished business having never won here.
The-27-year-old might have expected to lose the final on the other side of Paris, the French Open at Roland Garros - albeit in less humiliating circumstances than the 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 mauling which Nadal handed him in June.
Wimbledon was different, however, as the five-time defending champion went down in five titanic sets just as it seemed he had hauled himself right back from the brink.
Yet Federer is Federer and if he tacitly accepts he has had a poor season it is only because his standards remain set in the clouds.
For anybody else, a 13th career Grand Slam singles title at the US Open would have merited wild celebration - but the losses at Roland Garros and Wimbledon hit hard, following the barren spell he endured in the opening three months of the season.
Given the ups and downs of the campaign Federer therefore took a sanguine view Wednesday, when asked about regirding his loins for 2009.
"It's sort of an easier season than the years before, because I have less to defend - that's the only positive I see, really," he said.
"I'm happy with the way things have gone this season after a rough start and a rough Wimbledon final.
"So I've really been able to turn around, you know, get some emotional wins with the Olympic (doubles) gold and Basel again and then the US Open, which was the last slam of the season left to win."
Federer, who is 14-9 lifetime in Masters Series play and has 57 career titles under his belt, had been rumoured to be ready to skip Paris but in the event turned up seeking to do better than best showings of quarter-finals in 2002 and 2003.
"I never said I was going to pull the plug," he insisted, having already talked recently about trimming his overall schedule.
"I was tired after Davis Cup and it's been a tough season for all the players."
But in recent weeks he has looked very much on song.
"I felt well in Madrid, played great in Basel as well" said Federer, who completed a Swiss hat-trick before his home crowd.
"I thought I was on a roll, keep it going here - and (I'm) happy I came because I won my first round," - 6-4, 7-6 (9/7) against Swede Robin Soderling.
Looking beyond the remainder of this week and the Shanghai Masters Cup, Federer, yet to win a Masters event this season, said he was already emotionally focused on the task of reconquering the summit next year, quite apart from his ambitions here and in Shanghai.
"I'm looking forward to starting off well next year and trying to win the Australian Open - and we'll see how it goes after that."
If the cool Swiss does barge back past Nadal, he likely won't lose too much sleep that his record against the current number one reads 6-12 in the Spaniard's favour.
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