Write Roger Federer off at your peril. The 30 year old Swiss champion, possibly the greatest player ever to have played tennis, has endured what for him was a comparatively disappointing season – with not one grand slam to his name for the first time since 2002. But yesterday he showed the world that he is still at the pinnacle of his sport, with a 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3 victory over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in just over two-and-a-quarter hours to claim the 70th title of his career, winning the end of season Barclays ATP World Tour trophy at London’s O2.

Some of the leading men tennis professionals had their minds focused during the recent US Open about playing conditions, and an unusually high number of retirements which happened due to injury. This has spilled over into addressing the question of their workload and the leading tennis professionals will now sit down together during the Shanghai Masters next month to discuss the best way forward.

The US Open tennis grand slam tournament seems to have been jinxed this year. The rain gods have conspired to throw the U.S. Open administration into chaos. Yesterday’s men’s fourth-round matches were postponed for the second consecutive day due to rain. The matches were called off for the day just after 5pm but only after 15 minutes’ play had been possible. But it was long enough to bring real resentment out in the players who were angered by what they considered to be dangerous wet and slippery conditions.