Federer shows he is the man to beat again at US Open

Roger Federer of Switzerland holds up the championship trophy after defeating Mardy Fish of the US in their championship match at the Cincinnati Masters tennis tournament in Cincinnati, Ohio, August 22, 2010

Photo: Reuters

Roger Federer returned to winning ways on Sunday by claiming the Cincinnati Masters and announced himself once again as the man to beat at the US Open.

There had been talk of Federer being in decline after he went out at the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, part of a near seven-month streak where he has failed to win a tournament.

But the manner of his victory over American Mardy Fish in Ohio showed his opponent -- and plenty of other observers -- that the Swiss is the leading player in the best form heading into the Open.

The Swiss has an astonishing record at Flushing Meadows, having reached the last six finals and winning all but last year's loss to Juan Martin del Potro, and Fish believes Federer is a different beast when he turns up at the grand slams.

"He's just been there so many times,” Fish said. “Clearly he loves the US Open and his record is incredible in grand slams.”

“I feel like he's a different player even in grand slams as opposed to even Masters 1,000 tournaments," he added. "I think he realizes the importance -- when you speak about the best players ever, you speak about how many grand slams they've won.”

“I know that Mats Wilander won seven grand slams but I have no idea how many Masters series he won.”

Federer said the biggest obstacles he is likely to face in pursuit of a 17th major crown will come from familiar quarters -- Briton Andy Murray beat him in the Toronto final last week and Rafael Nadal is desperate to complete a career grand slam by hoisting the elusive US Open trophy.

"I guess the top four have the best shot again,” said Federer. “We can all play really well on the hard courts.”

“Murray has proven himself, so has (Novak) Djokovic on the hard courts and so has Rafa. He's won the Australian Open.”

"So I think it's gonna be an interesting US Open, many guys are playing well again,” he added. “Murray didn't win a tournament for a long time, and he's been able to win Toronto again.”

But there is no doubt who the 29-year-old Federer believes has the biggest chance of all -- himself -- and he is far from fazed by the rivals he faces.

"I'll always have new challenges coming up, I used to play against Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, and Carlos Moya, and Todd Martin and all those guys," he said. "Always been different challenges and rivals, that's not going to change.”

“I think every five years you'll have someone new, I think the next generation is probably already sort of knocking on the door."

 

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Fish to play Federer in Cincinnati Masters final

Roger Federer of Switzerland is pictured after defeating Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus during the semifinals on Day 6 of the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Mardy Fish reached the championship of the Cincinnati Masters event by rallying to beat American compatriot Andy Roddick 4-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-1.

The unseeded Fish was able to regroup during a third rain delay and upset the former world number one in the semi-final match.

Roddick led 5-2 in the second set when the players briefly went to the locker room. Fish was in top form when they returned.

"I was just lucky to get out of it," Fish said.

In Sunday's final, Fish will play Swiss superstar Roger Federer who easily beat unseeded Marcos Baghdatis 6-4, 6-3.

"It wasn't long at all," Fish said of the break. "It was only a couple minutes that we were back there, so I just changed (clothes). It was only a couple of minutes."

The beginning of the match was delayed 50 minutes by heavy rain. Another cloudburst during the first set resulted in a one-hour delay. Roddick was up 5-4 coming out of the delay. Fish dumped three forehands into the net while Roddick captured the set.

Roddick built a 5-2 lead in the second set when another shower forced a brief break.

"The first one really helped, the second one obviously didn't," Roddick said. "That's the thing with rain delays. The momentum can shift really fast."

Fish knew he was in deep trouble when he came back on the court.

"You don't want to be in that spot at all," Fish said.

This time, Fish was better when they returned to the hardcourt stadium. He broke Roddick's serve for the first time in the match to keep it going, then won the tiebreaker when Roddick began missing easy shots.

Roddick fell behind 3-0 in the third set, becoming so upset that he took extra swings at balls between points and slammed his racket into the ground.

Roddick downplayed his on court antics in the US Open tune-up event.

"I feel OK," Roddick said. "You know, to be honest, I came here and I had no expectations. For me to get in five really tough matches is more than I could've asked for going into the Open. Honestly, when I came here I was thinking maybe two matches and we'll see. I hadn't really put too much time in."

Federer broke Baghdatis to close out the first set and never faced a break point.

Federer, who is seeking his fourth Cincinnati title, also broke Baghdatis to take a 5-3 lead in the second set.

"I got kind of lucky in this tournament," Federer said. "I hardly had to play the first two matches. Things are working out for me here."

And it just keeps getting better because now Federer goes against unseeded Fish who Federer has a commanding 5-1 career record against.

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Murray and Nadal labor into Cincinnati quarters

Andy Murray hits a return to Ernests Gulbis of Latvia during their third round match at the Cincinnati Masters tennis tournament in Cincinnati, Ohio, August 19, 2010

World number one Rafael Nadal battled back to defeat Frenchman Julien Benneteau 5-7 7-6 6-2 at the Cincinnati Masters Thursday while Andy Murray needed a final set tiebreak to beat Latvia's Ernests Gulbis.

Third seed Roger Federer, coming off a runner-up finish in Toronto last week, enjoyed a free pass into the quarterfinals after his opponent pulled out of their match with an injury.

The top-ranked American, Andy Roddick, produced one of his better performances in some time to overcome Swedish fifth-seed Robin Soderling.

Nadal, who struggled to find his rhythm against a confident Benneteau, lost the first set and was then forced to save match point in the second.

With his French opponent struggling physically in the final set, Nadal showed his excellent fitness and cruised to victory and booked his spot in the quarterfinals.

Next up for Nadal is Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis who pulled off an impressive victory over Czech Tomas Berdych.

Murray also looked far from his best in the opening set against an occasionally inspired but often erratic Gulbis.

But Murray fought back in the second with the Latvian missing out on break point in the third game and hurling his racket to the ground three times before it was disfigured.

Gulbis had another good chance to get control of the match when he had break point in the eighth game of the third set but skied a shot high into the air and Murray held to make it 4-4.

With both players looking tired in the early afternoon heat, another decisive moment went against Gulbis when, at 3-1 down, he had a straightforward smash opportunity but was dazzled by the sun and could only tap the ball into the net.

Murray gathered himself and won 4-6 6-3 7-6, setting up a quarterfinal match with American Mardy Fish.

Federer, who could set up a repeat of last week's Toronto final with Murray, sauntered into the last eight despite not having played a single set of tennis.

Less than 24 hours after his previous opponent trailing 5-2 in the first set, Federer's third-round opponent Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany pulled out with a shoulder injury.

Since the Swiss maestro also had a bye in the first round, he will be well rested when he faces Nikolay Davydenko -- a three-set winner over Spaniard David Ferrer.

In a match that featured two big servers, Roddick squeaked by Soderling 6-4 6-7 7-6 to set up a match with Serb Novak Djokovic on Friday.

After taking the opening set, Roddick came up short in a thrilling second set tiebreak during which he criticized the umpire for allowing what he considered a late challenge from Soderling.

Roddick looked close to losing his temper but kept his composure and went on to take the match.

Djokovic dominated his first set against Argentine David Nalbandian, winning 6-1, but then looked a little short of breath as he labored in the heat, winning the second on a tiebreak.

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