Tennis Masters Cup - Final

Roger Federer remains the man to beat in this week's tournament in Houston, featuring the year's top-8 performers, and it is not hard to see why. Winner of three grand slam titles and the first man to go a perfect 10-0 in finals in a calendar year, the Swiss returns to defend his Masters Cup title as the most feared opponent of his generation and looking to cement a place among the sport's all-time greats. The one chink in his armour, however, may be a thigh injury sustained at his home tournament in Basel nearly four weeks ago. While he should qualify as one of the top two in his group to play in Saturday's knockout semi-finals he may be vulnerable to Rusian Marat Safin, who is undoubtedly the form player coming into this, having won two Masters events in the last three weeks (Paris and Madrid). No player hits the ball as powerfully as Safin, nor can they intimidate opponents the way the Russian can - when in the mood!