"All the players were playing for world No 1 but he was better throughout the year"
Sunday 12 November 2017 18:44, UK
Roger Federer was "happy" his rival Rafael Nadal collected the year-end world No 1 trophy on Sunday "because he deserves it".
The Swiss superstar made a strong start to his bid to cap his golden year with a seventh ATP Tour Finals title as he defeated Jack Sock in straight sets on Sunday.
Having won the French and US Opens this year, Nadal has matched Federer's unexpectedly dominant run as the old rivals hoovered up all four of this year's Grand Slam crowns.
The Spaniard is already guaranteed to finish as the year-end world No 1 for the first time since 2013, making the 31-year-old the oldest man to earn that honour and Federer believes he was "better throughout the year".
My only regret was I would have loved to be in contention through the Montreal final, Cincinnati and US Open. But things evaporated very quickly after he won the US Open
"I was supposed to do the Sky Sports interview afterwards, but the Rafa trophy presentation was going on. They said, is it okay to wait? I said, well, yeah, I better wait because this is a big deal. This is a huge thing," revealed the 36-year-old during his post-match press conference.
"All the players were playing for world No 1 but he was better throughout the year. He played more tournaments. He was incredibly successful throughout. I don't have any regrets because I feel like in my stage of my competition, my age, either it comes to me or it doesn't.
"He had more gas left in the tank than I did. I couldn't play as much as I've wanted, or I overplayed anyway. My only regret was I would have loved to be in contention through the Montreal final, Cincinnati and US Open. But things evaporated very quickly after he won the US Open. That's when he made his final push, in Asia. That was it for me really.
"In some ways I'm happy he clinched it because he deserves it. And like this, I can focus on playing the tournament, and not having to talk about that at the same time. But, sure, I would have loved to be No 1, but you can't be it with that many tournaments, so it's no problem for me."
Federer joked that he should have taken aim at his opponent Sock after the American escaped unscathed despite bizarrely turning his backside towards the Wimbledon champion during their clash.
When Sock's attempted drop volley looped harmlessly towards Federer, the 25-year-old thought his opponent would easily fire a winner, so he jokingly bent over and turned away from the net.
Federer was so bewildered by the sight of Sock's rear end unexpectedly looming into view that he dumped his shot into the net.
"It was a big distraction, I'll tell you that, because it (Sock's backside) was very big!" Federer laughed. "That's what I should have aimed for. That target was bigger than the down-the-line court that I had.
"It's happened sometimes in the past, but not on a big stage like this."
Sock admitted he had been playing for laughs, saying: "I mean, I did it more for fun.
"Probably do it three times a year. No, it's not a normal tactic."
The season-ending extravaganza ATP Finals at London's O2 in November ends another memorable year which will be covered via our website www.skysports.com/tennis with live blogs and updates as the season reaches its climax.
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