Tennis icon Roger Federer stated on Friday that he was hopeful of putting up a good show at the US Open, highlighting how his form and fitness are in the best shape for quite some time now.
It is worth noting here that the Swiss tennis icon has not been able to win this Grand Slam trophy since 2008. However, he had managed to reach the finals of US Open in 2015 and is one of the favourites to clinch the title yet again this year.
“We were saying on the practice court two days ago that this is probably the best I’ve felt in years coming into the US Open again, which is encouraging,” Federer said at a press conference three days before the start of the main draw of the hard-court Grand Slam US Open.
“I’m not putting extra pressure on myself. I know it’s going to be tough,” he added.
Federer was dealing with back niggles in 2017 and was not able to feature in the tournament because of an injury in 2016.
Also interesting is the fact that after winning five back to back US Open titles from 2004-08 and almost winning a sixth straight title in 2009 before losing the final to Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro, Federer is still awaiting his next US Open title for more than a decade now.
Federer acknowledged in this interview that his days of sheer dominance are behind him.
“I’m not coming in as the overwhelming favourite like maybe I did back in 2006 or 2007. I’m very much aware of how I need to approach this tournament mentally,” he said.
Besides his defeat to Del Potro, Federer has experienced many disappointing losses at the US Open. He lost twice to Novak Djokovic in the 2010 and 2011 semifinals. Against the same opponent, he experienced another defeat in 2015 and this time it was the finals of the US Open. The defeat in 2015 was perhaps more heartbreaking for the veteran since he was in a sublime form and had not even lost a single set in the entire year until the finals of the US Open.
Given this year’s draw and considering there are no major upsets, Federer might face Djokovic in the semifinals this year and if he surpasses that challenge, his arch-rival Rafael Nadal might await him in the finals.
And what could be a better sight than two legends of the game setting up a dream final, having won 38 Grand Slams between themselves. However, it is too early to predict the finalists at this stage.