Roger Federer joins an 'exclusive' club

Going into the Paris Masters, Roger Federer faced the prospect of failing to win either a major or a Masters Series title in a year for the first time since 2001.

The Swiss, by his standards, had a poor year, failing to win the lone major final he contested -- beaten yet again by Rafael Nadal at the French Open -- and not making it to the final of any of the year's eight Masters Series tournaments before the Paris tournament.

His record at the Paris Masters wasn't something to boast about either, the tournament being the only Masters Series event the Swiss had failed to make it to the final even once in an otherwise illustrious career.

However, the record was set straight on Sunday, when Federer beat Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1, 7-6 to ensure he goes into the ATP World Tour finals in London, where he is the defending champion, on a 12-match winning streak.

Federer's 18th Masters Series title also moved him one shy of Nadal's record of 19, besides earning him his 69th ATP title (in 99 finals) and his 59th match win (59-12).

More importantly, en route to his maiden title in the tournament, the Swiss became only the seventh player in the Open Era to win 800 singles matches on the Tour.

Federer's 6-3, 7-5 win over Argentine Juan Monaco in the quarter-finals was his 800th professional match win. His career-record now stands at 802-186.

Bikash Mohapatra takes a look at the other members of the exclusive club the Swiss maestro has just become a part of.

Jimmy Connors leads the way by a mile.

The American has a whopping 1242 singles match wins to his credit. Besides, he has eight Grand Slam singles titles, a record 109 ATP singles titles and a winning percentage of 82.4.

It doesn't, therefore, come across as a surprise that Connors has won more matches than any other professional on the men's tour -- in the open era.

Ivan Lendl is second on the list, with 1,071 match victories.

The Czech-born American is the only other player, after Connors, to have more than a thousand carer wins.

Lendl won a whopping 94 career titles and captured eight Grand Slam singles titles from 19 final appearances.

With 923 wins, Guillermo Vilas is third on the list.

The Argentine won four major titles -- the French Open and the US Open in 1977, both on his preferred clay surface, and the 1978 and 1979 Australian Open, on both occasions on grass.

1977 was undoubtedly Vilas's best year on tour, when he won two of the four majors and 16 of the 31 ATP tournaments he entered, ending with a singles win-loss record of 130-15.

The Argentine won 62 singles titles in an illustrious career.

In an illustrious, albeit tantrum-filled career, John McEnroe won seven majors, 77 singles titles and an equivalent number of doubles trophies.

At the 1977 Wimbledon, McEnroe, then just 18, made it through the qualifying tournament and into the main draw at Wimbledon, where he lost in the semi-finals to Jimmy Connors for what was the best performance by a qualifier at a major tournament.

He went on to win the tournament on three occasions.

McEnroe also won the US Open on four occasions.

The Americans notched 875 singles wins in his career.

Andre Agassi is the one of the two men (along with Nadal) to achieve a Golden Slam of all the four major titles and an Olympic gold.

Alongside Rod Laver, Don Budge, Fred Perry, Roy Emerson, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, the American is one of the only six men to have achieved a career Grand Slam.

Agassi won eight major titles in 15 finals, 60 ATP titles and also the Davis Cup.

He also won 870 singles matches altogether.

Stefan Edberg first came into limelight winning all four major junior titles in 1983. He thereby became the first-ever player, and so far the only, to achieve the Junior Grand Slam.

What followed was an equally, if not more, illustrious career as a pro. A career that yielded six major titles two each at the Australian and US Opens and Wimbledon, 42 ATP titles, a Masters win (in 1989), the No.1 Ranking and a whopping 806 career match wins in singles.

And the facets in the game that ensured the above achievements were a high-kicking serve, amazing reflexes, good court coverage and a remarkable backhand volley.

Federer, with 802 wins, will get past Edberg if he defends his title in London, winning all his five matches en route.