5 of Roger Federer's best matches in 2017

Roger Federer finished the 2017 season with an impressive record of 52-5. Here are my favourite five matches from the Swiss legend this past year.

5) Australian Open vs Tomas Berdych

This was a tough third-round match, with many experts believing that a potential surprise result was on the cards. After all, Roger himself was making a comeback having had a six-month break, while the number ten seed represented his first big challenger upon returning.

However on that evening at the Rod Laver Arena, Federer put on a show and won the match in straight sets with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 victory.

Post-match, Berdych said: "It's not so much fun. I would rather be sitting in the stands watching than on the court."

4) Wimbledon vs Milos Raonic

This quarter-final was a repeat of last year's semi-final encounter, where Federer lost and consequently finished the season due to persistent knee and back injuries.

Here though, he produced a masterclass early on which allowed him to assert his dominance. 6-4, 6-2, he was ahead in just over an hour's play at SW19.

In the third set, Raonic knew he needed to respond and did precisely that: increasing his level to lead 3-0 in set three. Federer then unleashed a barrage of winners in quick succession, going on to win seven on the next eight points - which included a forehand return winner down the line from a 115mph slice serve.

A number of Roger's shots were excellent to watch in this encounter and his 45 winners just tells the story, as he edged the third and final set in a 7-4 tiebreak victory.

Fedeerer produced a masterclass to prevail against the Canadian

3) Indian Wells vs Rafael Nadal

The fourth-round match at Indian Wells had all the makings of a final showdown - Rafa against Roger.

Everyone was expecting a hotly-contested encounter, as the conditions were perfect from Rafa's perspective with a slow court to play on. He could utilise more forehand top spin while also testing just how good Federer was with his backhand returns.

However, this match was over in an hour. Federer had dismantled his long-time nemesis with a 6-2, 6-3 victory, proving that his success at the Australian Open was not just a one-off, but he had indeed turned a corner on the experienced Spaniard.

Federer was too good on the day for Nadal, despite many suggesting it'd be a close-fought battle

2) Miami vs Nick Kyrgios

Going into the semi-finals, there was simply nothing to split the two players. Their head-to-head record was level this year going into this match, with both matches being decided on a tie-breaker.

This encounter was no different, either. Both were playing at an incredibly high level throughout their three-hour battle, without drops in their performance.

Federer won the first set tie-breaker 11-9 after managing to save a set point at 8-9 down, through a miraculous return of a 132mph bullet serve from the talented Australian.

Kyrgios won the second set tie-breaker after an unbelievable cross-court passing shot at 9-9.

However, Federer was the ultimate opportunist and pounced on Kyrgios' double fault at 5-5 to prevail in the third and final tie-break - consequently winning the match 7-6 (11-9), 6-7 (9-11), 7-6 (7-5).

Match of the year candidate: Federer holds his hands aloft after an excellent battle with Kyrgios

1) 18th Grand Slam: Australian Open vs Nadal

The stage was set for the biggest showdown in the year's first Grand Slam. Understandably, it took everyone by surprise that two men who were coming back from respective injury lay-offs were the pair to get themselves into the final itself.

After almost a decade apart, they were meeting once again in a GS final. The tennis world were patiently waiting with bated breath and the match itself certainly did not disappoint - an epic five-set thriller.

The first four sets were see-saw battles were one and three were dominated by Federer, while two and four were taken comfortably by his Spanish competitor. Both were playing at a high level in the fifth and final set, though Federer managed to recover from a 3-1 deficit to level things by winning both of Nadal's service games.

Federer supporters might have been wondering whether this would be another case of mental block denying Roger success against Nadal, but not to worry as he managed to find another gear.

The mental scars that Federer suffered in previous years against Nadal were finally put to rest on this occasion, while Roger won all remaining encounters against the world number one in 2017 without dropping a set.

Federer holds the AO trophy aloft, his 18th Grand Slam title and fifth in Australia