TENNIS

Roger Federer has revealed how he had an aggressive nature in his early days as a tennis professional as he discusses how he grew from his teenage days to become a superstar.

Rafael Nadal has been backed to have a perfect end to 2017 as he returns for the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in December where a meeting with Novak Djokovic could happen.

Roger Federer will begin his campaign at the Hopman Cup, while Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will get theirs underway in Brisbane and Doha, respectively.

The Grand Slam Board have announced a host of rule changes, including the introduction of a 25-second shot clock to be implemented in Melbourne.

Grigor Dimitrov won the ATP Tour Finals in London while runner-up David Goffin beat Nadal and Federer on his way to the finals.

The duo have won everything there is to win – 16 Grand Slams, 30 Masters Series titles and two Olympic gold medals.

Federer had a disappointing end to the 2017 campaign after losing the ATP World Tour semi-finals to David Goffin.

Former British number one Greg Rusedski believes Roger Federer will be rueing his missed chance of winning the ATP Finals after the absence of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

Jana Novotna, who won 17 grand slam singles and doubles titles, has passed away aged 49 after a long battle with cancer.

Roger Federer was favourite to win the ATP Finals in London, but the Swiss ace was beaten in the semi-finals by David Goffin.

Federer pinpointed the loss to Tommy Haas in Stuttgart and to Evgeny Donskoy in Dubai which cost him the spot.

World number three Grigor Dimitrov is expecting an interesting 2018 with the returns of Djokovic and Murray while he is also aiming for a Grand Slam following his ATP Finals win.

Current world number four Dominic Thiem believes the return of Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray will cause a shift in the ATP rankings.

With the expected return from injury of Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori and more, Roger Federer is expecting an "epic" start to the new year.

Federer had a disappointing end to the 2017 campaign, losing the ATP World Tour semi-finals to David Goffin.

Federer explained that he would earlier be ecstatic at the prospect of sharing the court with the legends of the game.

Rafael Nadal saw off the challenge from Federer and claimed the year-end number one ranking for the fourth time in his career.

Andy Murray won two Grand Slams and two men's singles Olympic gold medals under the stewardship of Ivan Lendl.

The Swiss veteran won seven titles this year, including the Australian Open and a record eighth Wimbledon title, to overtake Pete Sampras' seven championship wins.

British tennis has adopted an extra week in the calendar - but interest in the ATP World Tour Finals is diminishing.

The Swiss ace skipped the entire clay court swing of the season this year following a blistering start to the season.

Although they are not his goals at the moment, Roger Federer has refused to rule out the possibility of competing in the Davis Cup and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Federer made it three wins from three in the round robin stage of the season-ending tournament, with a victory over Marin Cilic in straight sets.

Roger Federer lost his chance of claiming the world No.1 ranking when he withdrew from the Paris Masters.

Murray last featured at Wimbledon where he suffered a quarter-final loss to Sam Querrey and has taken the rest of the year off to recover from a hip injury.

Rafael Nadal pulled out of the ongoing ATP World Tour Finals in London owing to a knee injury that has troubled him since the Shanghai Masters in October.

Roger Federer has revealed that getting surgery on his knee in 2016 made him think his career was ending once and for all.

Grigor Dimitrov has credited world number one Rafael Nadal for helping turn his season around after the duo trained with each other in Mallorca.

Roger Federer was a contender for the year-end world number one spot but was beaten to it by long-time rival Rafael Nadal.