The Grand Era of Roger Federer at the US Open 2000 - 2010
The history of the US Open over the last decade would be entirely incomplete without the mention of the great Roger Federer. Federer has practically owned the US Open title over the past years by reaching the finals of this tournament six times and by having five consecutive wins at this Grand Slam. As the US Open 2010 draws nearer, the question everyone seems to be asking is that will this US Open king make it to his seventh consecutive final and continue his rule over this tournament?
2000 was the year in which the teenage Roger Federer finally made it into the US Open after failing to qualify in the previous year. He entered the tournament unseeded and advanced to the third round, where he lost to Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain who was seeded number twelve, 5-7 6-7 6-1 6-7. The next year he reached the fourth round where, unfortunately, he was up against the great American player Andre Agassi and suffered a terrible defeat in straight sets, 1-6 2-6 4-6. In 2002, Federer was again knocked out in the fourth round of the tournament, again in straight sets, by Max Mirnyi, 3-6 6-7 4-6. In the following year, he was again defeated in the fourth round, but this time it was not in straight sets, by David Nalbandian of Argentina, 6-3 6-7 4-6 3-6.
By 2003, Roger Federer was seeded number two and he had become a rising star in the world of tennis. He appeared in the US Open 2004 in full form and thrashed his way to the final, where he defeated Lleyton Hewitt, 6-0 7-6 6-0, and claimed his first US Open championship. Hewitt, who lost to Federer with two bagel sets, did not know what had hit him. In the few years to come, the world was about to witness one of the greatest players in the history of tennis.
Making a major breakthrough in the year 2004, by winning at Wimbledon as well as the US Open, the Swiss player seemed to be becoming unstoppable. At the US Open 2005, Federer once again faced Andre Agassi, but this time in the final of the tournament. This was not the same Federer Agassi had faced four years earlier; this Federer was not going down easily. Agassi fought his way through the match and kept his dignity by not losing to Federer in straight sets but this was an extremely tough battle to be fought. After putting in full effort Agassi lost hope at the end and gave in to Federer, 6-3 2-6 7-6 6-1. This was the second consecutive win for the Swiss with three more ahead of him.
Things just kept on getting brighter for Roger Federer. In 2006, he beat his opponent Andy Roddick in the US Open final, 6-2 4-6 7-5 6-1, and became the US Open champion for the third time in a row. This win led him to become the first man to have won at Wimbledon and at the US Open three times consecutively in the same years.
The year 2007 was when Federer had become somewhat of a tennis god. The media started referring to him as “Darth Federer”, as he showed no mercy to his opponents. During this year he reached the finals of all four Grand Slams and won in three of them. At the US Open final, his majestic performance enabled his to bring down Novak Djokovic in a 7-6 7-6 6-4 victory making him the champion at this grand event for the fourth time.
In 2008, the US Open champion, for the fifth time in a row, was none other than the great Roger Federer. He dismissed the number one seed, Rafael Nadal, who had earlier been a threat to Federer’s greatness, in straight sets, 6-2 7-5 6-2.
An end came to Federer’s line of winnings at the US Open in 2009. He managed to make it to the finals but was defeated by Juan Marin Del Potro. It was not an easy task bringing down Federer but Del Potro did not hesitate to take up this challenge and won, 3-6 7-6 4-6 7-6 6-2. Federer who had not lost a match in New York for the past five years was left to pick up the prize for runner-up. Ouch, now that must have hurt.
2010 has not been such a good year for Federer. His poor performance at Wimbledon 2010 resulted in him being knocked out in the quarterfinals. Will history repeat itself and bring back Federer’s glory at the upcoming US Open? It is surely what fans want to think!
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