If all works according to plan, and form, Roger Federer should be playing tonight’s final of the ATP World Tour Finals, the semi-finals of which he has comfortably qualified for at the time of writing. And, of course, if that is the case, Federer would also be the favourite to win his seventh ATP World Tour Finals title. Regardless of the final outcome of the ongoing season finale, the Swiss has probably already done enough to cement himself as the world’s best again -- at the age of 36. But of course it was only last Sunday when Rafael Nadal was awarded the trophy as the year-end World No 1 -- a crown that affirms the top player. And yet when one juxtaposes the seasons of Federer and Nadal -- both astounding even by their unparalleled standards -- it’s the World No 2 who might have had the edge this year. Despite contesting the most illustrious rivalry in the history of tennis, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal -- the two most decorated male players in the game -- had never quite given the tennis world a year where the two would go toe to toe till the very end of the season. This is the first time that the two have evenly split the four majors in a year. In fact, it’s the first time in the open era that any two male players divided the four majors between them -- the only other time that has happened was in 1967 when Roy Emerson won the Australian and French, while John Newcombe won Wimbledon and the US Open. The ATP 1000 Masters titles are 3-2 -- in Federer’s favour -- this year. Federer has won seven titles, to Nadal’s six this season. Furthermore, Nadal only managed to seal the year-end number one ranking in the penultimate tournament of the season, underscoring how the race truly went down to the wire. And yet Federer and Nadal have taken contrasting routes to end up almost neck and neck at the end of the season. Nadal played 78 matches in 18 tournaments, winning 67 of them. This meant that while he would end up with fewer titles than Federer this year, runners-up finishes at big events like the Australian Open, Miami and Shanghai along with participation in every ATP 1000 and Grand Slam tournament meant that Nadal mustered more points than the Swiss. Federer, meanwhile, would have played 58 matches if he is playing tonight’s final, and has lost only four matches all year. But skipping the entire clay season -- which included three ATP 1000 events and Roland Garros -- coupled with the ATP 1000 in Paris and Cincinnati meant that the World No 2 would fall slightly short in the rankings. So while this has truly been the year of Fedal like no other, and in turn a treat for all tennis fans, just like the careers of the two all-time legends, there have been two parallel narratives, with contrasting takes on who actually has had the better year. With majors evenly split, Nadal has the No 1 ranking and more watch wins, while Federer has more ATP 1000 and overall titles -- a World Tour Finals win would further tilt this in the latter’s favour. On the other hand, as the Spaniard slugged it out in all elite tournament on all surfaces, the Swiss didn’t show up on clay at all. And yet one can’t discount the fact that Federer has only lost four matches all season and has a significantly high win percentage. Even so, what might truly tilt the matters in Federer’s favour is the fact that he has beaten Nadal in all four matches they’ve played this year. Yes, none of these were on clay, but the fact that two of Federer’s ATP 1000 titles and one major came after beating Nadal in the final are significant. Federer’s five-set win against Nadal might just have been his greatest ever triumph. This is not only because he came into the tournament ranked 17th after a six-month layoff, and faced Nadal in the final after having beaten three top 10 players back to back to back. What made it truly momentous was the fact that it was Federer’s first win over Nadal in a major on hard courts -- ever. It was also Federer’s first win over Nadal in a Grand Slam event in a decade -- the previous being the 2007 Wimbledon final. And so, when Nadal had clawed his way back into the final after going two sets to one down and was 3-1 up in the decider, it looked curtains for Federer. Had Nadal held on, the year could’ve panned out a lot differently and we might’ve been talking about one of the greatest seasons of all time for him instead right now. So yes, the fact that Federer seems to have got rid of the Nadal demons in 2017, while the Spaniard now is on the receiving end in the rivalry makes it Federer’s year. However, for the romantics and the neutrals 2017 would always remain Fedal’s year, with the gauntlet thrown to the rest -- most notably Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray -- to try and emulate the achievements of the two greatest male tennis players of all time.