Stanislas Wawrinka started the run at last year's US Open, followed by a 35-year-old Federer at Melbourne Park and Rafael Nadal in Paris.
As the countdown to 2018 starts, it's time to rewind those moments in sport that stood out this year.
A look at the top men's contenders at the 2020 French Open.
The British number one will play Croatian Donna Vekic, 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-6(4) victor over Czech Lucie Safarova in the day's second semi-final, in the climax to the Wimbledon warm-up tournament on Sunday.
The Ultimate Tennis Showdown will be held at Patrick Mouratoglou's academy in Nice with 10 matches every weekend for a total of 50 matches and prize money on offer for each clash.
Novak Djokovic maintained his unbeaten record against Frenchman Gael Monfils with a 6-3, 6-2 win in the semi-finals of the Rogers Cup in Toronto on Saturday, while Japan's Kei Nishikori also reached the final after beating Swiss second seed Stan Wawrinka.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
Nagal said he would look to play more ATP Tour events this year but for that he would have to first improve his rankings.
International Ski Federation (FIS) president Gian-Franco Kasper has warned FIFA against holding the 2022 World Cup in Qatar at the same time as the Winter Olympic Games.
Djokovic received a lot of heat from the tennis community and fans alike after testing positive.
Grigor Dimitrov and Borna Coric tested positive for COVID-19 while participating in Novak Djokovic's Adria Tour exhibition tournament
'In order to resume, I think the Tour is going to be open when the world is completely open, and everybody can travel freely'
Serbian Djokovic, 31, needed elbow surgery in February to cure a problem that surfaced in 2017, but after some jarring defeats he returned to the kind of domination he achieved in 2015, winning Wimbledon and the US Open.
With the year sprinting to a close, we bring you, in pictures, some of the best action from the sports world.
ATP says 'no evidence' against Harrison's racist remarks
Murray, 33, has not competed since playing in the Davis Cup in November due to complications with his hip but is set to return on Tuesday at a behind-closed-doors tournament in London, the 'Battle of the Brits', organised by his brother Jamie.
World number one Rafael Nadal recovered from an upset loss against Belgium's David Goffin to win the deciding doubles match and send Spain into the semi-final of the ATP Cup teams event in Sydney in the early hours of Saturday. Spain will now play host nation Australia in the inaugural event, while Serbia, led by world number two Novak Djokovic, take on Russia.
A ruthless Sorana Cirstea took full advantage of Karolina Pliskova's patchy form at the China Open on Thursday, reaching the quarter-finals as she consigned the recently dethroned world number one to a 6-1, 7-5 defeat.
Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov believes his first season on the ATP Tour has helped him grow into a better player and he is relishing the challenges ahead.
Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka will join Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in playing a pre-Australian Open warm-up exhibition
Andy Murray said he hoped the players and their family members who tested positive recovered soon and added that the tournament should not have gone ahead in hindsight.
Murray claimed his first singles victory since returning from hip surgery with a 6-0, 6-1 drubbing of French novice Imran Sibille
Petra Kvitova overcame a sluggish start and 10 double faults to beat Madison Keys 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-3 on Saturday and advance to the final of the Cincinnati Open, where she will face Caroline Garcia, the first qualifier to reach the final of a WTA 1000 tournament.
The seven-time major champion, speaking as part of a tour to promote his new book 'But Seriously', said that while he has great respect for Serena, he would place the 23-time Grand Slam winner "like 700 in the world" on the men's circuit.
Spaniard David Ferrer's late push for a place in the ATP tour finals got off to a laboured start with a 6-7, 6-3, 6-3 win over compatriot Guillermo Garcia-Lopez at the Valencia Open on Tuesday.
India's top singles tennis player Somdev Devvarman has been handed a direct entry in the main draw of the ATP Chennai Open tennis tournament after Estonia's Jurgen Zopp pulled out of the event due to a back injury.
But after those events, Federer will take a training break, the paper reported.
The centre-back was at the Madrid Open earlier this week, reportedly to discuss a 16-team knockout tournament with ATP Tour chief Chris Kermode. It would potentially replace the former World Team Cup event on the ATP calendar that was played from 1975 to 2012 ahead of Roland Garros.
According to the latest rankings issued on Monday, the left-handed Sharan is ranked 50th after gaining a place. He had reached the final of the last three tournaments he participated in, winning the ATP 250 European Open, while ending runner-up at Challenger events in Brest and Tashkent with different partners.
The tournament, with eight players in both the men's and women's draw, will resemble regular tennis as much as possible.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Sunday
IMAGES from Day 1 of all the action from the Wimbledon Championships played at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, on Monday.
The extended lockdown of tennis will help Andy Murray's return from injury but it will be "a big ask" for him to add to his three Grand Slam titles, according to former British number one Greg Rusedski. Murray underwent hip re-surfacing surgery at the start of 2019 and resumed playing doubles in June before returning to singles action in August.
Wimbledon organisers will announce the cancellation of the grasscourt Grand Slam this week due to the coronavirus pandemic, German Tennis Federation (DTB) vice-president Dirk Hordorff told Sky Sports. All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) officials earlier said the June 29-July 12 event would not be played behind closed doors and postponement was not without significant risk and difficulty.
Tennis great and founder of the WTA Billie Jean King was among those who applauded the announcement.
Former world number one Andy Murray said on Wednesday tennis will be one of the last sports to return to action after the world has recovered from the pandemic and Jabeur expects the Tours to restart in September.
Former world tennis number one Andy Murray said he can finally play without worrying about his hip following career-saving surgery in January, but expects next year's Australian Open to be the biggest test of his progress.
Kyrgios earned a suspended six-month ban in September for those transgressions but it only applies to the ATP Tour and not the Davis Cup.
Novak Djokovic bolstered his hopes of holding on to his World No 1 status until the end of the season with a 6-2, 6-3 defeat of big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic to retain the Paris Masters title on Sunday.
The Sports Ministry dropped para-sports coach Satyanarayana from the list of this year's Dronacharya awardees due to a criminal case pending against him, but made no changes to the names recommended for the Khel Ratna and Arjuna awards.
