Earlier Federer lost the French Open and Wimbledon finals. From all around the world they arrived, some to his parents’ house in Switzerland, some to his agent, some to his hotels. They came from retired players and from current coaches, from doctors, from fans. They offered good wishes, medical advice, even tennis advice.
Everyone figured Federer needed help, and everyone figured they knew how to help.
Turns out Federer was just fine. Turns out he still knew how to win a major tournament. He proved that Monday night, easily beating Andy Murray 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 to win a fifth consecutive US Open championship and 13th Grand Slam title overall.
“I felt like I was invincible for a while again,” said Federer, the only man in tennis history to win five straight titles at two major events.
He moved within one Grand Slam title of tying Pete Sampras’ record of 14.
“I always knew that if I were to get one Slam under my belt, especially the last one, things weren’t looking that bad, like everybody was talking about,” Federer said. “I didn’t feel I was under pressure to prove myself in trying to win here, but this definitely feels very sweet.”
Nothing like the bitter taste left by his lopsided loss to nemesis Rafael Nadal in the French Open final. Or by his heartbreakingly narrow loss to Nadal — 9-7 in the fifth set in fading light — in the Wimbledon final, denying Federer a sixth straight title there. Those, plus a semifinal loss at the Australian Open, were among Federer’s 12 defeats by August in 2008, more than he had in any entire season from 2004-07. He also arrived in New York with only two titles from minor events, and allowed Nadal to end Federer’s record 4 1/2-year reign at No. 1 last month.
“Maybe you can’t win everything,” said his father, Robert Federer. “After the French Open, you could see many (negative) comments saying, ‘Federer is gone,’ ‘Federer will never win another Grand Slam.’ And Federer proved the opposite.”
His son heard those comments and thought about them.
“I was aware of it. I mean, I’m a bit disappointed. Sometimes, to a point, a bit annoyed,” Federer said, mentioning the letters he received.
