Another Tennis Masters Cup title. Another magnificent year-ending display of tennis dominance. Another reminder to his rivals that there is still an enormous amount of catching up to do if he is to be toppled from his position at the summit of the game. How long can this routine continue for Roger Federer?

With his 27th birthday still more than three-quarters of a year distant, there appears to be no psychological let up in the world No 1’s quest for glory and records. Therefore it is almost inconceivable, health and a lack of injuries permitting, that by the time this event arrives at London’s O2 Arena in the early winter of 2009, he will not still be the prime candidate for victory.

By then the chances are he will have passed Pete Sampras’s record of 14 Grand Slam titles and equalled Ivan Lendl’s collection of five year-ending Championships. In addition he could easily be looking back at Sampras’s current leading mark of 286 weeks at the top of the world rankings.

When the ATP’s computer clicks into print-out mode this morning it will mark the 199th consecutive week that Federer has sat at the summit. And his lead over second placed Rafael Nadal is a colossal 1,455 points, which put in perspective is roughly the numerical prize on offer for winning one Grand Slam and getting to the semi-final of another.

To be universally hailed as the greatest player ever the Swiss must of course win that elusive French Open title and complete the Grand Slam of four major titles in one calendar year. This year he of course came close with the dream finally disappearing into the red dust of Roland Garros.

Have no doubt Federer is determined to go that one step further in 2008 and after an enjoyable three-match exhibition tour of Asia with Pete Sampras and sufficient rest, he will return to the sun-baked practice courts of Dubai and attempt to make himself even better prepared for the next campaign.

This last week was a reaffirmation of exactly what is great about Federer. When he arrived in Shanghai there were distinct question marks over his durability after losses to David Nalbandian at Madrid and Paris-Bercy. Then he lost for the first time ever in Tennis Masters Cup round robin play to Fernando Gonzalez.

The response really should not amaze anyone who purports to know anything about the game and when Federer returns home to Switzerland he can take another trophy to put in the den that doubles as an office in his new Zurich home. It might be an incredibly large room as he maintains all his trophies are housed there.

"Fantastic" was the word Federer used to describe 2007. “In some ways it’s been a breakthrough year for me,” he said. “Especially the way I played in the beginning of the year, not losing a set during the Australian Open. Then at the end coming here, beating everybody in straight sets after losing against González when people thought Federer is maybe not playing so well.

“Beating Nadal for the first time on clay in Hamburg was special. I've beaten all my closest rivals, Nadal and Djokovic, more times than they've beaten me. It's been one of those years which I'm really, really happy about. Maybe I didn't win ten titles [as in 2006] but it's not necessary if I want to stay No 1 in the world all the time. If I keep this level of play up, I mean, I'm in a great position for next year as well.”

There will come another enormous challenge for Federer and will mean a return to China for the Olympic Games that begin in early August. He still squirms at the memory of losing to Tomas Berdych in Athens in 2004 after being bestowed the honour of carrying the Swiss flag at the opening ceremony and he wants to end that void in his list of achievements.

Looking further ahead he makes no secret of a desire to also strike gold in 2012 when the medals at the London-based Olympiad will be decided on his beloved Centre Court grass at Wimbledon. The Roger Federer success story still has many episodes to run.