Hong Kong:
Sixteen-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer insisted on Friday he can still be dominant on the tennis court despite losing his number one ranking to a rampant Rafael Nadal.
Federer is currently in the shadow of his Spanish rival, who has won the past three Grand Slams to reach a career total of nine, but the Swiss said he was still motivated and had no intention of quitting the sport.
The world number three started the year on a high, winning a fourth Australian Open crown, but lost his French Open and Wimbledon titles and missed out on the US Open final for the first time since 2003.
"I think I played some of the best tennis of my life at the Australian Open and then after that I got unlucky with a few matches where I lost with match points," said Federer.
"The biggest disappointment for me was Wimbledon," added the 29-year-old. The six-time champion crashed out to Tomas Berdych in the quarter-finals.
Federer and Nadal have shared 25 out of the past 30 Grand Slams in an unprecedented spell of dominance and Nadal's win at the US Open completed a career Grand Slam for the Spaniard.
But the Swiss, although acknowledging Nadal was currently the top man, said the Spaniard, who has a 14-7 winning record against Federer, remains beatable.
"The world number one spot takes more time and it happens if you play well. He (Nadal) is the best player in the world right now. He's won the last three Grand Slams so he completely deserves to be at world number one."
But Federer said before his recent run, Nadal endured a long title drought. "People then wrote him off as well," he added.
"Stories in tennis move around very quickly. I went through a bad patch as well and I got back to world number one by winning last year's French and Wimbledon and playing really well through the American summer as well," Federer said.
"I'm a strong believer that when I'm at my best I can beat anyone, I can even dominate anyone but there's many guys around that play really, really well and Rafa, being the number one guy, is a tough guy to beat," he added.
Federer, who holds the record for most Grand Slam wins, said Nadal was a stronger player than a few years ago but he had also improved.
"Players don't always want the result and the ranking but to also improve as a player. That sometimes is also a work in progress. I've just started with a new coach (Paul Annacone) as well and that sometimes takes some time to settle," he added.
Federer, who has already qualified for the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London, said he had no intention of ending his career and he still felt he had more to achieve.
"This is exactly the time I've worked so hard for, to enjoy now. That's why I have no intentions of quitting the game and I'm looking forward to the future," said Federer.