Federer aims for big Paris finish after Basle home triumph

The 12-time Grand Slam winner became the fifth man in history to clinch a fourth career year-end world number one honour after Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras.

 Federer took his four all in a row, capping his latest with a 6-3, 6-4 win over longtime friend Jarkko Nieminen in the Basel final.

 "I'll  be going to Paris, there's no pulling out now," said the winner, who withdrew from the final event of the ATP regular season a year ago and last played the tournament in 2003.

 The top seed put on a command performance at home as he rolled Nieminen for the eighth time without a defeat. It took just 61 minutes minutes to lift his seventh trophy of the season, most on the ATP.

 "It's so nice to win in front of the home crowd. The match went a bit quickly, it was gone in an hour.

 "That might have been hard for fans who came to see me from far away, but in the end, I expect most of them were hoping for me to win. So hopefully they go home happy.

 "The public really helped me, especially at 4-4 in the second when I was able to break Jarkko."

   Nieminen, who knocked out a pair of former finalists in Fernando Gonzalez and Marcos Baghdatis, remains pleased with his own effort this turnaround week.

 "Roger is the best in the world and it's so tough to beat him," said Nieminen, 1-6 in career finals. "I've still had a great week.

 "I tried my best but it was not enough to beat him. Roger is so good when it gets tough.

 "I was trying too hard at the start, 0-3 is not the best way to begin. I played better in the second set but it was not enough."

   Nieminen also takes confidence to Paris.

 "I'm going in strong, it's totally different than how I felt a week ago when I came her from Madrid (first-round loss)."

   Federer, who ran his 2007 record to 63-7 on Sunday, heads the field at the elite Masters Cup in Shanghai from November 11.

 The last two places in the eight-man field will be decided next week in the French capital. By Bill Scott, dpa