Roger Federer proved he was human after all but still managed to reinforce his reputation as being arguably the greatest player of all time despite losing his Masters Cup title.
Argentine David Nalbandian's epic 6-7, 6-7, 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 victory over Federer in Sunday's season-ending final brought the Swiss world number one's 35-match winning streak to a shuddering halt.
It also prevented Federer from claiming a third straight Masters Cup title and matching John McEnroe's professional-era best record for a season of 82-3 set in 1984.
However, it did nothing to shatter Federer's aura of invincibility.
Feeling the effects of a month off with an ankle injury, Federer could barely chase down Nalbandian's shots by the fourth set.
Playing on pure instinct, the Swiss maestro was simply trying to keep the fifth set score respectable after Nalbandian raced into a 4-0 lead.
"I thought it was going to be over in five minutes at 4-0," said Federer, who played the tournament with a strapped right ankle after suffering a bad sprain in training last month.
"I was just trying to make it harder for him to win. I wasn't even trying to win anymore in the end."
But through a superhuman effort, an exhausted Federer clawed his way back on level terms and to within two points of the title at 6-5 and 30-0 before finally running out of steam.
"I almost turned it around," shrugged Federer, who had won his previous 24 tournament finals.
"That would have been some incredible comeback."
Federer had single-handedly rescued the tournament from becoming a farce after the sudden pullouts from injury of Rafael Nadal and Andre Agassi.
Andy Roddick, Marat Safin and Lleyton Hewitt were all Shanghai no-shows and the withdrawals of French Open champion Nadal and former world number one Agassi left the $4.45 million event looking threadbare.
VILLAIN AGASSI
Chinese organisers cast Agassi as the villain of the piece, doubting his reasons for quitting after an upset 6-4, 6-2 defeat to Russia's Nikolay Davydenko in his opening match.
But in a week when he was named as one of People magazine's "international men of sexiness", some of Federer's play certainly bordered on sexy, helping to smooth over the problems.
Federer made history in the semi-finals with an awesome 6-0, 6-0 victory over Argentina's Gaston Gaudio, the first whitewash in 35 years of the competition.
After the match, Federer acknowledged the extra burden he was feeling following the unscheduled departures of Nadal and Agassi.
"I was shocked when Nadal didn't play and then I felt the pressure when Agassi pulled out," said the Wimbledon and US open champion. "All of a sudden I felt a bit left alone."
Ultimately, a 12th title of the year was beyond even Federer.
His rivals had been hoping all week that Federer's injury would provide a leveller in Shanghai and, finally, it did.
"Those first two sets took too long, took too much out of me," Federer said after the final.
"But there's also pride there because three weeks ago I was still on crutches."
Gaudio said after his semi-final humiliation that a lot of players were psychologically defeated before stepping onto the court to play Federer.
"Most of the players are beaten before the match against Roger," a dejected Gaudio said. "I was playing against the best player in history."
Nalbandian, to his credit, refused to be beaten. But the manner of Federer's defeat will be an ominous warning to his rivals ahead of the 2006 season.
