Monday 25 September 2017 17:33, UK
He may be 36, but Roger Federer has shown this year that the best continue to evolve and improve to prolong their stay at the top - and 2017 could yet end as the most successful year of his career.
Federer has won 36 matches and lost just three this year, winning five of the eight tournaments he entered, two of which were Grand Slams. He didn't play at the French, but he enters the US Open bidding to win three Slams in a year for the first time in a decade.
Yet back in January, rumours of retirement continued to swirl. He was seeded 17th at the Australian Open, he hadn't won a Slam for four years and was returning after a month off the court through injury.
But once in Melbourne, victories over Tomas Berdych, Kei Nishikori, Mischa Zverev and fellow Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka ensured he became the oldest player to compete in a Grand Slam final since Ken Rosewall in 1974.
His epic win over Rafael Nadal in the final saw him move back into the top 10 and after resting at the French Open, his form at Wimbledon was sensational, cruising to a record-breaking eighth title and record-extending 19th major overall without dropping a set. He also became the oldest male player to win Wimbledon in the Open era.
Federer has operated in two modes so far this season; either resting during a tournament or winning it. So how has he done it?
One factor has been his transforming of a slight weakness into an additional strength.
For all his major wins, Federer was often caught out by Nadal and headed into the Australian Open final with an 11-23 record against the Spaniard - 2-9 in Slams.
A central reason for this was that his elegant one-handed backhand struggled to contain Nadal's deep, powerful and high-bouncing shots, with his defence at the baseline a long-time weakness.
Federer just could not generate the required power at shoulder height with one hand that Nadal and the likes of Andre Agassi before him could with two on their double-handed backhands.
This season that has changed, as Federer has altered his grip, attitude and method on the backhand. In conjunction with coach Ivan Ljubicic, Federer modified his hold on a relatively new seven square-inch racket frame, which first surfaced in 2014.
Now, he attacks shots on his backhand early and on the rise, and the net result is a more aggressive, flatter backhand which has proved deadly. With this, Federer has found new angles to attack and new weaknesses to Nadal's game, thereby converting a glaring weakness of his own game into a new strength.
"He's playing the best tennis I've ever seen," said Tomas Berdych, who Federer knocked out of both the Australian Open and Wimbledon, while after his Wimbledon final defeat, Marin Cilic said: "Roger is playing the best tennis of his career on this court."
Now, he arrives at Flushing Meadows without Novak Djokovic, Wawrinka or Andy Murray to worry about, so what chance he adds to his 19 Grand Slam titles?
He has had his own injury problems - he was clearly struggling with his back in the final of the Montreal Masters and was forced to pull out of the Cincinnati event - but if he stays fit, few can live with him.
His shot placement, technique and footwork remain as eye-catching as ever and while Agassi briefly held the No 1 spot in the world at the age of 33 for a period of two weeks, no man in his thirties has ever finished the year at the top of the rankings.
But then, Federer has proved in 2017 that with good management and an evolving technique, he is no ordinary 36-year-old.
Sky Sports Tennis will have all the action from the US Open covered via our website sky.mnosports.com/tennis with our live blogs and updates throughout the fortnight as the Grand Slam year reaches its climax.
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We will also have coverage of the World Tour Finals in November with every match live on Sky Sports.
