As he hops from one glamorous venue to another in South-East Asia in the next few days, Roger Federer will be confronting the man whose grand-slam tournament record he hopes to break next year and pondering who might help him do it.

From Seoul, South Korea, to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and ending in Macau, Federer crosses swords with Pete Sampras in a trio of exhibition matches designed further to enhance the sport in its fastest-expanding marketplace. With 26 grand-slam tournament titles between them – including 12 Wimbledon singles trophies but not a single French Open - Federer and Sampras are the embodiment of tennis omnipotence in the past two decades.

The 53rd title of Federer’s career arrived in Shanghai yesterday, when he lifted his fourth Masters Cup in five years with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 victory over David Ferrer, a Spaniard happy merely to occupy the same space as the Swiss on such an occasion. Sampras won 64 titles and carried off five Masters crowns between 1991 and 1999, when it was called the ATP Tour World Championship. Times, as well as names, have changed.

As he was being chauffeured last night back into the Chinese city that idolises him, Federer was keen to consider how he might sustain another period of domination. “What happened here and most of this year has put me in a great situation for the next few months,” the world No 1 said. “I won three grand-slams, I have a winning record over all my rivals – this is the first year I’ve had it over [Rafael] Nadal and I beat him on clay, too, which is good – and it makes you start thinking about doing it all over again. I’m really excited about next year, with the Olympic Games in Beijing, and the French Open is there for me to win for the first time as well. The fact that I finished the year in style does my confidence a power of good.

“When I lost the first match here [to Fernando González, of Chile, in the round-robin stage] I had to get my head around that situation. My back was against the wall in the next match against [Nikolay] Davydenko, but I proved myself. Definitely, I’ve played some great tennis.”

You could hear the joy in Federer’s voice, the sheer thrill of fulfilment. At 26, he is two grand-slam tournament titles away from equalling Sampras’s record of 14 and he is not the remotest bit fearful of the opportunities ahead.

Whether he does it alone, or with a coach, is the next decision he needs to take. Since parting company with Tony Roche, the Australian, after the Italian Open in May, Federer has ploughed a solitary furrow and it has been difficult for him at times.

“I have been looking around, but there were other things that took priority and I kept having to say to people, ‘Let me think about it,’ ” he said. “Well, the time has come to give it serious thought now. I have a vacation after the Sampras exhibitions and perhaps there will be something to say at the Australian Open.”

Of those who might have been keen to work with Federer, Paul Annacone (former coach of Sampras and Tim Henman) has just tied the knot for another three years with the LTA; Darren Cahill (Andre Agassi and Lleyton Hewitt) performs an excellent job at ESPN, the American cable television network, and Brad Gilbert (Agassi, Andy Roddick and Andy Murray) will, as we learnt yesterday, have his hands full for 20 weeks next year inspiring Alex Bogdanovic, the British No 2, into the world’s top 100.