By Martyn Herman
The sight of the two greatest players of their generation jousting on opposite sides of the net at London's O2 Arena as the men's season came to a spectacular conclusion was a heart-warming one for fans the world over.
A paltry four meetings between the Spaniard and the Swiss in the past two years has left tennis followers feeling slightly short-changed but as the Australian Open looms both are eager to square off for the major prizes.
Shame then that the women's game is in a state of flux.
Williams had been the dominant personality on the WTA Tour and her absence has left a vacuum that the new generation of baseline belters are not yet ready to fill.
Vera Zvonareva reached the Wimbledon and U.S. Open finals but the Russian world number two could walk through most city centers without attracting a second glance.
With Serena injured and sister Venus now the other side of 30, 2011 could be prime time for Belgians Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin to regain a stranglehold on the game.
RETIREMENT U-TURN
The men's game is not flush with new faces either.
There are no teenagers in the top 100 but, thankfully, the quality of the cream at the top persists.
Nadal's year was simply phenomenal.
After ending 2009 short of confidence and form, with concerns about his knees, the 24-year-old Mallorcan caught fire during the claycourt season and blazed a trail back to the top of the rankings in devastating fashion.
Suddenly the demons vanished and he swept to victory in Rome and Madrid before regaining his French Open crown with an emotional win over Soderling at Roland Garros.
In doing so he became the youngest man to win a career slam.
CONFIDENCE CRISIS
Nadal's return to number one in the rankings coincided with Federer's crisis of confidence.
The Swiss was overpowered by Soderling on a soggy claycourt in the quarter-finals of the French Open, ending a run of 23 consecutive grand slam semi-final appearances.
Worse was to follow.
He admitted his escape was due to luck more than good play but there was no let-off in the quarter-finals when big-hitting Czech Tomas Berdych put him to the sword.
"It took me a little bit to get over not regaining the Wimbledon crown, not being in the Wimbledon finals for I don't even know how many years," Federer said.
"That was a bit of a different feeling. But my feeling was always that I was going to come back strong after Wimbledon."
Federer linked up with Paul Annacone, former coach of Pete Sampras and, while he lost to an inspired Djokovic in the U.S. Open semi-finals having missed two match points, he quickly rebounded to go 23-3 in the final months of the season.
"I think having had me and Rafa both making the career grand slam already at a young age is great for the game. We're obviously playing not only for ourselves and beating the other guys, but also for history."
(Editing by Clare Fallon; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
