NEW YORK — Riding in a car a few days before the start of the 2010 U.S. Open, Roger Federer was discussing the state of his game during a telephone interview when he suddenly interjected a warning.
“Just so you know, I’m going through the Midtown Tunnel here,” Federer said, “so if we get cut off, I’ll call you back, OK?”
Which illustrated two traits: The guy is exceedingly polite — and he knows his way around New York quite well, having reached every men’s final at Flushing Meadows since 2004.
If there have been questions raised in recent months about where Federer’s career is headed, there is at least one person who is adamant that it’s far too soon to write him off.
You guessed it: Federer himself.
“As high as my confidence has been the last few years,” Federer said. “I don’t feel like I’m any less confident.”
When the U.S. Open begins Monday, Rafael Nadal will try to complete a career Grand Slam, Andy Murray will seek his first major title and Novak Djokovic his second, and Andy Roddick will aim to end an American drought.
And Federer? He gets a chance to show that reports of his demise are premature, that he still possesses the on-court qualities that let him lord over tennis for so long: the slick movement, the sublime forehand, and the pinpoint serve on display in that popular is-it-real- or-fake? video catching millions of clicks on YouTube.
“Rafa, Murray and Djokovic are all looking good too, so I think it’s going to be a U.S. Open with multiple favorites,” said Federer, who announced Saturday that he’s hiring Pete Sampras’ former coach, Paul Annacone. “But I guess I’m one of the big ones or bigger ones — if not the biggest one — because of my history here over the last six years, making the final each year.”
That run includes five U.S. Open championships, part of his record haul of 16 Grand Slam titles. It also helped Federer accumulate semifinals-or-better showings at a record 23 consecutive major tournaments, a streak that ended with a quarterfinal loss at this year’s French Open.
U.S. Open
A brief look at the U.S. Open, the year’s last Grand Slam tennis tournament, which begins Monday:
Surface: Hard courts.
Site: USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, New York City.
Schedule: Play begins Monday. The women’s singles final is Sept. 11; the men’s singles final is Sept. 12.
No. 1-seeded man: Rafael Nadal of Spain.
No. 1-seeded woman: Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark.
Prize money: Total is about $22.7 million, with $1.7 million each to the men’s and women’s singles champions.
TV: ESPN2, Tennis Channel, CBS.
