TENNIS: When Pete Sampras confirmed his retirement at the 2003 US Open, the phrase "we may never see his like again" was heard around the tennis world. Fifteen months on, Roger Federer is lord and master of the men's game and the Sampras era is but a distant memory.
Federer's victory in Sunday's Masters Cup final was, as the Swiss said himself, "an unbelievable end to a fantastic season" and, statistically, Sampras has been left in the shade.
The 23-year-old from Oberwil won three of 2004's four Grand Slams, a feat last achieved by Sweden's Mats Wilander in 1988.
Federer won 11 titles in all this year and is the first player in the Open era to win 13 singles finals in succession, moving ahead of Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe.
His domination is best demonstrated by one fact - he has not been beaten by another top 10 player this year and the psychological hold he now has over his opponents is reminiscent of Sampras at his peak.
Lleyton Hewitt, the losing finalist in Houston on Sunday, has met Federer six times this year and lost the lot, including a 6-0 7-6 6-0 thrashing in the US Open final.
The Australian counter-puncher is back to his best after a poor 2003 and is a born and bred fighter, but he has not got close to Federer all season. "He's a hell of a player," is Hewitt's succinct opinion.
Sampras' game was based on a great serve, fine volleying and flat, hard ground-strokes. On his day, and especially on the grass courts of Wimbledon, he was an irresistible force. Like Sampras, Federer can play from the baseline and take the game to his opponent at the net. The fluid Swiss is a court craftsman of great skill, using angles others can only dream of.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Federer's 2004 campaign is that he achieved it all without a full-time coach.
His decision last December to part with Peter Lundgren, just five months after winning his first Wimbledon title, was seen as foolhardy at the time. Yet Federer, accompanied on tour by his girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec, has proved that behind the smiling, open exterior there is a single-minded man not afraid of risk.
His biggest test this year came at Wimbledon. A champion has to be very special to come back to the biggest tournament of them all and win it the following year.
Sampras did it, so did McEnroe, Borg and Boris Becker. Many doubted Federer had the right stuff after he burst into tears on Centre Court following his 2003 title.
He came back to the All England Club in 2004 and beat Andy Roddick in the final, losing just two sets in six rounds.
"I'm so proud I could handle all the pressure," he said at the time. "The sense of satisfaction is unbelievable."
Federer's goal next season is to defend his number one ranking and he is stepping away from Davis Cup duty to ease his load.
If he avoids injury there seems little to stop him repeating this season's trail of triumph, although, like Sampras before him, the red clay of Paris still has to be tamed.
Sampras never got beyond the semi-finals of the French Open in 13 visits and Federer has just one quarter-final to his name after six Roland Garros tournaments.
If the Swiss can adapt his game to the red clay courts, Sampras's all-time record of 14 Grand Slam titles could well be in danger.
