Federer stakes claim on 2010 US Open title
Roger Federer has defended his Cincinnati Masters 1000 title and with it sent a strong message to all potential opponents ahead of the US Open that he’s still one of the men to beat for the title this year.
The Swiss’ 6-7(5), 7-6(1), 6-4 victory over Mardy Fish marked Federer’s first title since the Australian Open at the beginning of the year and with it must have surely silenced some of the doubters who have prophesised his decline over the past couple of months.
But if Federer’s quarter-final exit at Wimbledon this year marked the end of an era for a man who has claimed the title at the All England Club on six previous occasions, now might be the time to reconsider the world No. 2’s fondness for the North American hard courts during the summer.
Yesterday was the fourth time in his career the 29-year-old has hoisted the silverware in Cincinnati, this year’s title joining a collection that also includes those won in 2005, 2007 and 2009.
Federer’s US Open record is even more impressive. He’s not missed the final at Flushing Meadows since 2003, and was crowned champion for five straight years from 2004 to 2008 before Juan Martin del Potro capped a remarkable tournament by doing what at this time last year may rightly have been regarded as being as close to the impossible as things get in sport by handing the defending champion defeat in a Grand Slam Final.
At that point, remember, Federer had completed his career Grand Slam at the French Open, and at Wimbledon had broken Pete Sampras’ record for winning the most career Grand Slam titles, taking the lead with his 15th career major after defeating Andy Roddick in a marathon final.
He seemed as near to being invincible as he ever has.
Things are different now. Federer is the hunter; world No. 1 Rafael Nadal the hunted. Del Potro, sidelined with a wrist injury for the vast bulk of the year already, has now officially withdrawn from this year’s US Open.
Aside from reminding us that Federer is not a spent force yet, if the past two weeks have served any purpose it is to perhaps chip away at the notion that the Spaniard is the unbeatable force in tennis at present, especially on the North American hard courts where he has recorded a semi-final loss (to Andy Murray) at the Masters 1000 in Toronto and a quarter-final loss to the mercurial Marcos Baghdatis in Cincinnati.
Fish, whose post-Wimbledon activities have resulted in three finals and two titles and a meteoric rise up the rankings from world No. 79 after Wimbledon to world No. 21 in this week’s rankings, is perhaps the success story of the summer though, and will head to Flushing Meadows as the most in-form of the American contingent.
Not bad for a guy whose ranking dipped out of the top 100 this March, though admittedly it’s tough to picture Fish in a Grand Slam final, despite his summer of success.
Federer though is a different story. He’s been there more than any other player who’ll be contesting the US Open silverware in 2010 and if Cincinnati is anything to judge by, there’s every chance he’ll be there again in New York this year.
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