By Kamakshi Tandon

As the players warmed up for the match that would eventually see the world No. 1 capture his tenth Grand Slam with a 7-6(2), 6-4, 6-4 win over Fernando Gonzalez, the tournament announcer ran through their career highlights. Not surprisingly, Federer's took a while to get through – but he wasn't complaining.

"I like how he does it. I think he's almost the best of the year," Federer said.

At his parents' home during the summer, he had even taken the opportunity to relive the scene from last year. "There was one match lying around of the finals of last year against Marcos [Baghdatis]. I said, 'Let me have a look.' It was the very beginning. I heard again the announcement. Everybody started to laugh again in the end. I rewind it and listen to it again. You can imagine I enjoy it very much. Coming back, having one title more than the last year, it's great. I really enjoy it."

The self-possessed Swiss has plenty of stats to wallow in. The ten Grand Slam titles leave him tied for fifth on the all-time list,and four behind the record established by Pete Sampras. Federer is guaranteed to break Jimmy Connors' record for 160 consecutive weeks at No. 1 by the end of February, and is the only Open Era play to win three consecutive majors twice. He has now won 36 straight matches, the fifth-longest streak in the Open Era.

His next target is the French Open. Winning at Roland Garros would give Federer the career Grand Slam and make him only the third male player to win four Grand Slam events in a row. "That's going to be very interesting to see how I'm going to do there," said Federer. "I mean, I've made one step further every year now. Went from semis to finals. Got closer to Raf [Rafael Nadal], as well."

The numbers also capture Federer dominance during the last two weeks. He became the first player since Ken Rosewall in 1971. Federer, keenly aware of the sport's history, looked over to where Rosewall was sitting when the feat was announced. "Ken, I'm happy to be the one who follows up on you," he said in his post-match speech.

Coached by an Australian during the early part of his career and currently working with one of Rosewall's contemporaries, Tony Roche, Federer reserves a special affection for those from the gorlden era of Aussie tennis. After winning the title last year, he broke into tears when presented the trophy by Rod Laver.

There was no crying this year, just a shout of joy and a collapse to the ground. "You can't force them out every year," he told Australian television. "Don't worry, just because there's not tears doesn't mean it doesn't mean anything to me."

Serena Williams, who won the women's championship on Saturday, watched the match from the stands until 4-3 in the third set. By that time, Federer was clearly on the way to victory, though he did not begin as strongly as he finished.

By the end of the first set, his unforced error count stood at 10, nearly equal to the 12 he had made in his entire semifinal. A spate of forehand errors in the middle of the set helped Gonzalez secure a break in the ninth game, and then he duly reached double set point on his serve. Federer saved the first by sneaking into the net, and Gonzalez wiped out his second opportunity himself when he sent a backhand into the net on the second.

"Yeah, maybe the match will be different if I won the first set. But maybe I can lost in four sets. I think every time when I play with Roger, I never won the first set. So that was really maybe a key," said Gonzalez afterwards.

A seven-deuce game at 5-6 could have been a routine one had Gonzalez known to challenge an out call at 40-15 -- the Hawkeye replay showed the ball had been in. But he held on anyway, and the two went to a tiebreak.

But it was then that Federer sprang to life, taking the set with a crosscourt forehand drive Gonzalez himself might have been proud of. The significance wasn't lost on the Chilean. "I didn't take my opportunity, and then he pass over me," said Gonzalez, who did not reach break point again during the rest of the match.

Throughout the match, Federer showed no fear of going to Gonzalez's stronger forehand wing. Though Gonzalez possesses one of the most powerful forehands in the game, it was his slice and one-handed backhand which Federer said peturbed him most. "He made it hard for me today to really kind of attack him. He slices the forehand, slices the backhand. It's just a different game. Especially the first set. I was missing a few of them to give him the upper hand. He should have won the first, but I came back and won. That might have been crucial."

Having got the first set under his belt, Federer upped his effectiveness on serve and began to wear down Gonzalez during rallies. One break decided each of the next two sets, and Federer finished the match with four clean winners in the last game.

Gonzalez took an injury timeout for treatment on his shoulder after the end of the tiebreak. "I mean, if you go to the final of a Slam, playing two weeks, best-of-five sets, you have to have at least one pain," he said. "Is easy to say I have pain, but it's not my case. I think he win today with tennis."

Gonzalez observed that Federer's attempts to adjust to the windy conditions had the side-effect of making life more difficult for him. "He was playing very good against the wind. He start to play short angles, and that's take me out of my position," Gonzalez said. "He was playing really well against the wind. I lost twice the serve with the wind."

There have been suggestions in the past that Gonzalez lacks the ruthlessness to reach the very top of the game. The thought came to mind at 1-1 in the third set, when he motioned a ballboy chasing a moth not to hurt the insect. It was eventually deposited among the courtside flowers. But his recent results have given him self-belief. "I did four finals in the last five tournaments, so I'm in a good level. I'm still improving," he said. "I have tennis to be No. 1. But Roger is really far away now, so I have to be ready. I have to be ready when Roger goes down a little bit."

Gonzalez is not alone in having a mental block when it comes to dethroning Federer -- most of the tour players have expressed a helpless awe at the tennis the majestic Swiss is able to produce. "If I were another player, I would be amazed a little bit to see always the same guy winning," said Federer matter-of-factly. "When I was coming up, Lleyton [Hewitt] was No. 1 for about two years. I remember thinking, 'Nobody's going to beat Lleyton. He's just going to always be there, always winning'... I guess that's a little bit how other players see me as well."

With four languages, extensive charity commitments and a nuanced turn of mind, the accomodating Swiss also carries the sport's banner off the court. "I think especially now that [Andre] Agassi retired, [I've] really absolutely taken over as the ambassador for the tennis game. I've always tried to put in as much as I could back into the game because the game, this is what I love doing. It's been so good to me, you know."