"We are not there yet but we are knocking on the door. Greg has had a sniff of what it's like being at the top and these are extremely exciting times."

Inevitably a feeling of anti-climax, tinged with more than a little end-of-year weariness, settled on Greg Rusedski's shoulders yesterday after he had lost 6-4, 7-5 to Pete Sampras in the second of his round robin matches at the ATP world championship here.

But with a place in the world's top 10, a runners-up place at the US Open, and close on £1 million prize money banked, this has been an extraordinary year for the British number one.

Small wonder that his coach, Tony Pickard, who steered Sweden's Stefan Edberg to glory, was in upbeat mood. Pickard replaced American Brian Teacher immediately after the US Open, and already believes Rusedski has "improved 15 points" under his tutelage.

"Unlike Stefan, Greg is an extrovert. I was not sure how things would work out, but he listens, and then has the ability to go out and do it," said Pickard. "His determination to succeed is incredible."

Rusedski's attempt yesterday to beat the world's leading player for the first time in six attempts was hampered from the moment he woke up and felt a tightness in his right leg. "Somebody not as mentally strong as Greg would not have played," said Pickard.

Indeed, the coach was annoyed that Rusedski had not made it clearer earlier in the day just how tight his hamstring was, although Pickard's assertion that his man was only 75 per cent fit was perhaps a little exaggerated.

Certainly Sampras did not notice his opponent was in any great discomfort. "He seemed to be serving pretty well to me," said the American who in their last two meetings, in San Jose and the Grand Slam Cup, had dropped an opening set to Rusedski.

But having lost to Spain's Carlos Moya on Tuesday, and having played extremely poorly, Sampras had no difficulty motivating himself. On the point of serving for the first set, he had to take a three-minute time-out to attend to a nose bleed, but it has not been brought upon by undue stress.

This slowish hard court, which had mitigated against Sampras when he played Moya, worked in the American's favour against Rusedski, giving him those precious fractions of a second to return the game's biggest serve.

As it was, Rusedski's left arm was notably tight in the opening set when he double faulted six times, and buried numerous backhands, particularly volleys, deep into the net.

"You have to be 100 per cent fit when playing Pete," said Rusedski, who had his right thigh strapped at the beginning of the match, but then removed the support after the first game.

This is undoubtedly true, although, after a long, hard season, Rusedski understandably looked a little jaded. A win does wonders for the system, but his opening loss to Australia's Pat Rafter, the man who beat him at Flushing Meadows, had clearly dulled his sharpness.

Nobody can be sure that this year's new kids on the top 10 block - Rusedski, Jonas Bjorkman, Rafter, and Moya - will be able to sustain their position next year, although Rusedski's huge serve is the anchor that Sampras believes will secure his position.

"It will be interesting to see who is real and who isn't, but I reckon Greg will be around for a lot of years," said Sampras. The American is always liable to let people hear what they want to hear; he has been equally flattering to Henman.

But there is no doubt that Rusedski's booming serve is one of the most potent weapons on the world stage, and, with Pickard, he is working hard on adding knew equipment to his armoury.

Inevitably there are doubts. Clearly there are more gifted players than Rusedski, those with a more natural and instinctive touch. But nobody works harder, and the success he has achieved this year has been genuine and deserved.

The race continues to challenge Sampras and close the gap. It will be a hard, hard road, but at the beginning of the year, when Rusedski was ranked was outside the top 50, nobody would have given a price on him being in a Grand Slam final, let alone the ATP championships.

ATP Tour World Championship (in Hanover) - Red Group: P Sampras (USA) bt G Rusedski (Eng) 6-4 7-5, P Rafter (Aus) bt C Moya (Spa) 6-4 6-2. White Group: Y Kafelnikov (Rus) bt J Bjorkman (Swe) 6-3 7-6 (8-6).