Federer says dream season down to staying fit

Federer always believed he could succeed, if he could recover from back problems

Federer's victory on Sunday was his fourth title of the year and moves him up to No 2 in the world rankings (AFP)

Roger Federer’s year is far from done, but even if the last weeks of his 2014 campaign are unproductive it will have been a memorable season for the Swiss.

After finishing runner-up at Wimbledon and winning the Cincinnati Masters, he won his fourth title this year at the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Sunday and replaced Rafael Nadal at No 2 in the world rankings.

In 2013 he won only one title. He did not secure his place in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals until the last qualifying tournament. After the 2014 Australian Open he fell to No 8, his lowest ranking position for 12 years.

Federer always believed he could succeed, if he could recover from back problems.

“The biggest concern was to be healthy,” Federer said. “That’s something I’m so pleased about, to see the hard work I put in last year is paying off. I’m waking up normal. I’m not half-broken like I was last year. I’m playing the way I was hoping I could play again.

“I’m playing a very consistent, solid season. It was about winning titles again, because last year I only got one, which is quite disappointing.”

Federer will aim to win his home tournament in Basle for the sixth time next week and will then have to decide whether to play in the following week’s Paris Masters.

Meanwhile, Andy Murray is likely to play his first match at the Vienna indoor tournament tomorrow. He faces the winner of today’s meeting between Vasek Pospisil and Germany’s Daniel Brands.

Tomas Berdych said yesterday that Ivan Lendl, Murray’s former coach, would not be joining his entourage. The world No 7 said on Twitter that he had spoken to Lendl, who was “too busy” to work with him.