Every tennis player who is good enough to make the professional level has two long-term dreams: one is to win a major, and -- for a select few who actually have the talent and the ability -- the other is to be No. 1.

	It just might be Andy Roddick's destiny to finish the year as the No. 1 player.

For a long time, people have known Andy Roddick has talent and could at some point win a major. But few people realized how quickly Roddick would reach No. 1.

Since 2000, it has been easier -- if such a term is relevant -- to reach No. 1 because four different players have won the four majors. In the 1990s Pete Sampras had a hold on the top spot for six consecutive years. At that time, a player had to win two majors to have a legitimate shot at No. 1. In 1999 Andre Agassi won Roland Garros and the U.S. Open, but no player has won more than one major in any year since, meaning the player who finished the year strongly became No. 1.

This is the fourth consecutive year that the No. 1 spot will be determined by the final event, which has to make the ATP and the tennis world very happy. In 2000, Gustavo Kuerten went to the Masters Cup and won his final four matches, including back-to-back wins over Sampras and Agassi. In 2001, Lleyton Hewitt went undefeated at the Masters Cup to finish No. 1. In 2002, Hewitt went 4-1 at the Masters Cup to again finish No. 1.

This year, really only Roddick and Juan Carlos Ferrero have a legitimate shot at finishing in the top spot. Roger Federer would have to go undefeated in Houston, and Roddick would have to go 0-3 for Federer to finish No. 1. There's no way that's going to happen.

It's going to come down to who plays the best in Houston: Ferrero or Roddick. It would be great for American tennis if Roddick were able to finish the year as No. 1. Just imagine the excitement in Spain if Ferrero became the first Spaniard to finish the year as No. 1.

The great thing about the Masters Cup is that it includes the best eight players in the world. While only Roddick and Ferrero will battle for No. 1, there are six others who could play spoiler: Federer, Agassi, Guillermo Coria, Rainer Schuettler, Carlos Moya and David Nalbandian. Those six other players also are battling and jockeying for year-end positions. Although they won't finish No. 1, there is still a lot at stake -- including a ton of prize money.

However, the way Andy Roddick has played this year, it seems as if it's his destiny to finish No. 1.

MaliVai Washington, a tennis analyst for ESPN, reached the 1996 Wimbledon final.