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After winning the ATP World Tour Final over Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer thanked American coach Paul Annacone, who used to work with Pete Sampras, as well as his Swiss coach, Severin Luthi.

Since he hooked up with Annacone, Federer has reached six finals and compiled a 35-4 record.

“I had to regain some confidence. That only comes through winning matches,” he said. “After having somewhat of a disappointing clay season, Halle, Wimbledon stretch, where I wasn’t able to win any tournaments and didn’t play my best tennis, played a bit passive, it was important that I was able to pick up my game. I started moving better, started feeling well physically and mentally. I’m sure Paul has helped in this regard. So has Severin. That’s why I’m very happy with my team at this stage of the season.”

Federer, 29, also said he has no plans of retiring and hopes to play for “many more years.” The Swiss added that he’ll bring confidence into the Australian Open and likes the pressure of being the defending champion. He stated that it’s conceivable that he and Nadal could dominate 2011.

“Obviously with Rafa having won three Grand Slams in a row, seems like not many people stopping him,” he said. “And now that I’ve found back to my best form as well, when I’m on, that’s a hard thing to do, as well.  Look, Murray, Djokovic had another great year, maybe lacking some of the bigger titles. Murray won two against me in the finals, too. That is a positive sign next year for him. Then you have other guys like Berdych and Soderling that had another excellent season and were able to beat me a few times. I think tennis, the men’s game, is at an absolute high right now.”—Matthew Cronin

The ATP World Tour Finals announced a total attendance for the eight days of tennis at London’s O2 Arena at 253,123, a slight drop from 2009’s total of 256,830 fans, but eight sessions sold out with 17,500 spectators attending.—Matthew Cronin

French Davis Cup team captain Guy Forget says his team is ready to confront Serbia in this weekend’s upcoming Davis Cup final in Belgrade.

“We are not afraid of anything, we know how good Novak Djokovic and the other Serbian boys are,” Forget said. “We also know that when you play away the atmosphere is sometimes hard and you have to be ready. It’s going to be a great match, a tough match and you know we are really looking forward to it.”

France also announced that the injured Jo-Wilfried Tsonga would travel to Belgrade to cheer on the team.—Matthew Cronin

The BBC has come under criticism in Wales for not showing the opening seven minutes of Saturday’s rugby match between Wales and the All Blacks (New Zealand) because it decided to stick with the Andy Murray-Rafael Nadal semifinal from London.

Welsh Rugby Union chief executive Roger Lewis said: “We are very disappointed…this caused widespread disruption and deprived many rugby fans across Wales and the rest of the UK of the chance of witnessing an epic and important element of the match… I acknowledge there was an editorial decision to be taken by the BBC, but the fundamental fact is that millions of people had planned their viewing for the weekend to include the whole of the Wales versus New Zealand match.”

Spanish television reported that nearly four million people watched the ATP World Final between Federer and Nadal.—Matthew Cronin

Great Britain’s Laura Robson is training at the Patrick Mouratoglou Academy near Paris and will work with one of Mouratoglou’s coaching staff next year. Robson will turn 17 in January and will team with Andy Murray in the Hopman Cup. She split with Dutch coach Martijn Bok in September.—Matthew Cronin

After winning the ATP World Tour Final over Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer thanked American coach Paul Annacone, who used to work with Pete Sampras, as well as his Swiss coach, Severin Luthi.

Since he hooked up with Annacone, Federer has reached six finals and compiled a 35-4 record.

“I had to regain some confidence. That only comes through winning matches,” he said. “After having somewhat of a disappointing clay season, Halle, Wimbledon stretch, where I wasn’t able to win any tournaments and didn’t play my best tennis, played a bit passive, it was important that I was able to pick up my game. I started moving better, started feeling well physically and mentally. I’m sure Paul has helped in this regard. So has Severin. That’s why I’m very happy with my team at this stage of the season.”

Federer, 29, also said he has no plans of retiring and hopes to play for “many more years.” The Swiss added that he’ll bring confidence into the Australian Open and likes the pressure of being the defending champion. He stated that it’s conceivable that he and Nadal could dominate 2011.

“Obviously with Rafa having won three Grand Slams in a row, seems like not many people stopping him,” he said. “And now that I’ve found back to my best form as well, when I’m on, that’s a hard thing to do, as well.  Look, Murray, Djokovic had another great year, maybe lacking some of the bigger titles. Murray won two against me in the finals, too. That is a positive sign next year for him. Then you have other guys like Berdych and Soderling that had another excellent season and were able to beat me a few times. I think tennis, the men’s game, is at an absolute high right now.”—Matthew Cronin

French Davis Cup team captain Guy Forget says his team is ready to confront Serbia in this weekend’s upcoming Davis Cup final in Belgrade.

“We are not afraid of anything, we know how good Novak Djokovic and the other Serbian boys are,” Forget said. “We also know that when you play away the atmosphere is sometimes hard and you have to be ready. It’s going to be a great match, a tough match and you know we are really looking forward to it.”

France also announced that the injured Jo-Wilfried Tsonga would travel to Belgrade to cheer on the team.—Matthew Cronin

The BBC has come under criticism in Wales for not showing the opening seven minutes of Saturday’s rugby match between Wales and the All Blacks (New Zealand) because it decided to stick with the Andy Murray-Rafael Nadal semifinal from London.

Welsh Rugby Union chief executive Roger Lewis said: “We are very disappointed…this caused widespread disruption and deprived many rugby fans across Wales and the rest of the UK of the chance of witnessing an epic and important element of the match… I acknowledge there was an editorial decision to be taken by the BBC, but the fundamental fact is that millions of people had planned their viewing for the weekend to include the whole of the Wales versus New Zealand match.”

Spanish television reported that nearly four million people watched the ATP World Final between Federer and Nadal.—Matthew Cronin