Roger Federer at crossroads

Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray open the 2014 season in Abu Dhabi on Thursday with Roger Federer hoping his absence isn’t an indicator of more misery ahead.

World No. 1 Nadal provided the comeback story of 2013, winning 10 titles, including a record eighth French Open and a second U.S. Open which took his majors haul to 13.

Djokovic defended his Australian Open crown while Murray claimed Britain’s first Wimbledon mens’ title in 77 years.

But while the big three start their new campaigns with a leisurely three-day stroll in the Gulf, record 17-time major winner Federer begins his 17th season as a professional in Brisbane and with his career at a crossroads.

In 2013, the world No. 6 failed to reach a Grand Slam final for the first time since 2002 and his second-round defeat at Wimbledon ended his run of 36 consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances.

Federer will turn 33 in August but is acutely aware that his great hero, Pete Sampras, quit at 31 and at the top of his game, having secured a fifth U.S. Open.

Federer’s record against the sport’s big three also makes for worrying reading — he is 10-22 against Nadal having lost all four matches against the great Spaniard this year and 9-11 when up against Murray, losing their one clash in 2013.

He is still ahead in his rivalry with Djokovic, at 16-15, but lost both of their meetings this year while the Serb has taken six of their last eight matches.

The Swiss goes into 2014 having severed his ties with long-time coach Paul Annacone, one of a number of players to have tweaked their backup teams over the winter.

“For me, it’s pretty simple: this is what I used to do as a little boy. It’s something that always is there in your DNA,” said Federer, who will be playing a warmup tournament in Australia for the first time in 11 years.

After Brisbane, where he is the top seed, Federer heads for the Australian Open, a title he has captured on four occasions but where he has fallen in the semifinals on his last three visits.

Nadal missed the UAE tourament in 2012 as well as the Australian Open as he nursed a knee injury for seven months, but he had a record-setting 2013, losing just seven times in 82 matches.

The 27-year-old is now just four majors behind Federer and with five years on his long-standing rival, is widely expected to pass the mark of the Swiss whose last major was the 2012 Wimbledon title.

Djokovic stunned tennis by hiring Boris Becker as his new head coach, a decision prompted by his desperate desire to improve a record that reads six Grand Slam titles but also six defeats in finals at majors.

-punch