Roger Federer’s reign as the world’s number one player is looking as perilous as ever, following his shock first round defeat in the Toronto Masters.

Federer crashed in three sets to unseeded Gilles Simon, and is now in danger of being overtaken at the top of the ATP rankings by his Wimbledon final conqueror Rafael Nadal.

After a disappointing year by the Swiss star’s high standard, Roger has failed to win a Grand slam event. Just six months ago, before the start of the Australian Open, Federer led the rankings by 1445 points and looked certain to add to his record stretch at the top.

Federer and Nadal have been No1 & No2 in the rankings every week since 25^th July 2005, when Nadal rose to No2.

Federer has been No1 for a record 234 weeks, since February 2004, while Nadal has trailed him for 157 straight weeks.

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Federer, who lost 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 against Nadal, said,

“To lose the way I did is obviously hard – It’s a rough loss – but it’s okay, I’ll move on from here and I’ll try again next year.”

Federer pointed to the fact that nobody can match him on grass, pointing to the fact that he hasn’t lost on grass for five years. He is confident and still feels very strong about being the big favourite at Wimbledon 2008. His loss to Nadal will not dent his resolve, by acknowledging his counterpart’s supremacy on clay courts.

“It’s so far apart, grass and clay, that I don’t think it will have a big effect on me mentally.”

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