Following his exit from this year's ongoing Australian Open, Roger Federer has now failed to reach the final of the last 10 Grand Slam tournaments.
It may not be nice for his supporters to see, but there can be little doubt that the 33-year-old's powers are most definitely on the wane.
However, that was certainly not the case during the mid to late 2000s, when Federer was the dominant force of men's tennis.
The world number one headed into the 2007 Aussie Open as the big pre-tournament favourite to win what would be the 10th Grand Slam title of his career.
Federer certainly lived up to that billing as he saw off the likes of a young Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick, who won just six games against the Swiss star, on his way to the final, which took place in Melbourne eight years ago today.
Chile's Fernando Gonzalez, the conqueror of Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals, was Federer's opponent. The two players had met on nine previous occasions, with Gonzalez still awaiting his first victory.
Yet, he seemed determined to break that sequence on the biggest stage of them all. The right-hander remained patient during the opening set and he was rewarded in the ninth game as he broke Federer. Gonzalez then earned himself two set points, only to spurn both.
It would prove to be the defining moment of the contest as Federer opened up a one-set advantage via a tie-break, before going on to win the trophy with a relatively straightforward 7-6(2) 6-4 6-4 triumph.
Having come through the encounter unscathed, Federer became only the third player of all time and the first since Bjorn Borg at the French Open in 1980 to have gone through an entire major without dropping a set.
"Equalling records, doing something that hasn't been done for a long time, it's really nice, no doubt. All I care about in the end is to hopefully hold that trophy," Federer told reporters.
"Of course, now that it's over, it's great to think, 'Wow, you know, not having dropped a set.' It's quite amazing.
"If somebody would have told me I'd win 10 Grand Slams from mid 2003 till today, I never would have thought there was any chance."
Meanwhile, a defeated Gonzalez added: "I have to congratulate Roger. He's on the way to be maybe the best player ever. He is a great champion who played a really good match today, all week [and] almost all his life. I can take a lot out of this tournament."
Gonzalez's performances in Australia lifted him to a career-high fifth in the world rankings, yet he was never able to reach another Grand Slam final before his retirement in 2012.
Liam Apicella
