It's disappointing to lose in the semis, says Federer

London: World No 1 Roger Federer would have liked to have the icing on the cake with the men's singles title at the season-finale being held at the O2 Arena here.

But, for one more year he's had to go away without much, except the pride of being one of the greats in the world of tennis.

"It's disappointing, but not to lose against him, just to lose in the semis," Federer told media after his loss in three sets to Russian Nikolay Davydenko on Saturday.

"Coming so far in a tough group, in a tough tournament, I had hopes to get through to the final and maybe win again," Federer said.

"But I missed the start again and I guess that is what cost me the match at the end." After losing the first set 2-6 rather meekly, Federer did well to break the Russian sixth seed in the tenth game to draw level 6-4. However, he made far too many unforced errors in the third, especially on key points, to allow Davydenko to slip through 7-5.

"I think I sometimes picked the wrong choice of shots right from the start and that let him sort of recover," Federer explained.

Federer had been officially handed over the ‘World Champion' trophy for the fifth time in his career earlier this week. So he would have definitely loved to cap this glorious moment with another trophy. "But look at the brighter side," Federer pointed out.

"I still had a great season. And looking how deep the game is right now, to finish on top for me is phenomenal. I don't know, but I try not to look too much in what I did wrong this week or what I did wrong today [against Davydenko]," Federer said.

Besides last week's World Champion crown, Federer also managed to break his Roland Garros jinx by winning the French Open for the first time this season.

"From a tennis standpoint, winning in Paris and then Wimbeldon were among the most incredible moments of the year for me," the Swiss ace admitted. "I finished No 1 in the world, so I don't have many regrets," he quickly added.

Federer was also in admiration for the manner in which Davydenko handled his tennis and personal life after being under a cloud of doubt for doping among other things.

"I think he didn't have the easiest of last few years where people suspected him of doing bad things in the sport."

How do you rate Federer's performance this year? Do you think his performance in the new season will improve? What are the aspects of his game which need the most attention?