NEW YORK — No matter what anyone else said or thought, Roger Federer knew he was still capable of elite tennis.
He knew he was still capable of winning Grand Slam titles.
He knew he was still Roger Federer.
Back at his best, back at the top of tennis, Federer easily beat Andy Murray 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 on Monday to win his fifth consecutive U.S. Open championship and 13th major title overall.
Federer is the first man since Bill Tilden in the 1920s to win the tournament that many times in a row. He also moved within one major championship of tying Pete Sampras’ career record of 14.
“One thing’s for sure,” Federer said in an on-court interview. “I’m not going to stop at 13. That would be terrible.”
The victory clearly came as something of a relief to Federer, who has struggled during a lackluster-only-for-him season. He lost in the semifinals at the Australian Open, and to nemesis Rafael Nadal in the finals of the French Open and Wimbledon, meaning Federer was on the verge of his first year since 2002 without a major title. Plus, his 4 1/2-year reign at No. 1 ended last month when Nadal surpassed him.
“I had a couple of tough Grand Slams this year . . . so to take this one home is incredible,” Federer said after stretching his U.S. Open winning streak to 34 matches. “It means the world to me.”
But the sixth-seeded Murray upset Nadal in the semifinals at Flushing Meadows to reach his first Grand Slam final, and Federer had no trouble this time — even though he had lost two of his previous three matches against the Scotsman.
“I came up against, in my opinion, the best player ever to play the game,” said Murray, who tried to give Great Britain its first men’s major champion in 72 years. “He definitely set the record straight today.”
Federer is 2-4 against Nadal in major finals, 11-0 against anyone else.
Indeed, Murray can consider himself in good company. Federer’s other four finals at Flushing Meadows came against men who have won Grand Slam titles: Lleyton Hewitt, Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick and Novak Djokovic.
“I’m sure we’re going to see much more of Andy in the future,” said the second-seeded Federer, who accumulated a 36-16 advantage in winners, a 7-2 count in breaks of serve, and won the point on 31-of-44 trips to the net.
When the men met at the net, Murray felt compelled to share a thought with Federer.
“I told him that he had, you know, a phenomenal year,” Murray said, “regardless of what anyone said.”
