Eurosport - Sun, 24 Aug 14:33:00 2008
Roger Federer, shorn of the favourite's tag for the first time in four years, said being a relative underdog could inspire him to victory at the US Open.
He goes into Monday's tournament looking for a fifth successive US Open crown but without a Grand Slam title in his bag for the first time since 2002.
Federer (pictured left with Rafael Nadal, right, and boxing promoter Don King) was beaten by Nadal in the finals of the French Open and Wimbledon and also watched the Spaniard take the gold medal at this month's Beijing Olympics.
The Swiss player's record run of 237 consecutive weeks at the top of the rankings was ended by Nadal last Monday and Federer said he could prosper with the pressure of being the favourite now off his shoulders.
"I would think it does [reduce the pressure]," he said at Flushing Meadows. "Five years almost, I was expected to win every tournament I entered so maybe now it changes a little bit.
"Rafa will now feel what I had to feel for a very long time. It will be interesting to see how he handles it but so far he's been great and he's played so well on all surfaces.
"Maybe it's nice to go into a Grand Slam for a change not having number one next to me."
By most people's standards, reaching the semi-finals of the Australian Open and the final at the French Open and Wimbledon would represent a good year.
But having won three grand-slam crowns in both 2006 and 2007, Federer set himself the highest of standards and he said a bout of glandular fever at the beginning of the year had a bigger effect on him than he first thought.
"Maybe I've been playing a little bit of catch up all the way through the season," he said. "It took away maybe a Slam, took away 20 days of practice. That is a lot for us.
"I have to take it a little bit more step by step. I've been very consistent even this year in Grand Slams.
"Rafa has played great so he deserves the number one position. He's in a way the favourite now all of a sudden, even on hard courts, because he's played so, so well."
Federer said he hoped that having fallen from top spot the crowd would be on his side this year.
"I've had some legendary matches here, from me playing Andre [Agassi] in the final [in 2005], or Andy [Roddick]," said the Swiss. "The night sessions are electrifying and the crowd have always been very good to me.
"So especially this year I hope, maybe not playing my best tennis, maybe this year they will come out and support me and carry me through to another US Open win."
Comment 12 - 31 of 31
phau U MAKE ME proud!!!u amaze me wif ur huge serve n power groundstrokes..
RAFA WILL WIN MORE MONEY IF HE LOSE ON PURPOSE...MORE THEN 1.25MILLION...
Go Fed, u can do it again! U r a champ
I totally agree with scourge_werepire.. Fed was invincible and players sometimes were beaten even before entering the court.. Don't get me wrong, Fed has played great tennis over the past number of years and has deserved his wins, but maybe he had that 1-5% edge because his opponents ultimately thought they were going to lose no matter how well they played.. James Blake was a good example of that..
Now that people have belief they can beat him, something will have to change on Rogers side of the net.. He will have to fight a little more and try and add a bit of an edge and fight to his game.. A little bit of mental toughness for sure..
For the second time in his career, he will have to try and achieve the number #1 ranking again.. Good luck to you Fed!! You have your hands full, the field is a lot stronger now than it was the first time you became #1..
I hope Federrer will finally do it this year and win the US Open title, he really deserve this title and to get the number one rank in the world, he is the greatest player ever.
krv mi plavim venama tece
meni je srpstvo od svega prece
mene cuva bog imam svoj pravac
ja sam srbin
ja sam pravoslavac
yes nadal to lift us trophy easily
Really interesting tournament with Nadal as N°1 and Federer trying to conquer his first Grand Slam of the year.
Djokovic has already beaten Federer in the Australian Open 1/2 finals and the challenge does not afraid him at all.
As for Nadal it will be the revenge of the Olympics because I think that Djokovic was more angry that he seemed not to win the gold medal against a player he already beat.
I'm not sure that Nadal is gonna win the tournament. He is very exhausted and his main goal will be to play at his level, like every time, and reach the 1/8 finals as in 2007. He does not want to put pressure on him because he knows that it will be tough to win the points he granted this year in 2009.
Let's see if someone like Murray or even Blake will be much strong to win a Grand Slam, but I don't think so.
Can't wait !!!
OVAKO tejapirateja NEMOJ DA SE GUBIS, FEDERER SVOJU MENTALNU SNAGU I DALJE IMA, A TEBE UOPSTE NE ZANIMA KO JE NJEGOVA DEVOJKA NITI S KIM ON SPAVA I KAKO, TO JE SAMO NJIHOVA STVAR, I STA AKO JE MIRKA DEBELA POSTOJI JOS FAKTORA U VEZI, DA TI NIJE MOZDA PALO NA PAMET DA JE ON VOLI, A DRUGA STVAR JE DA CE ON POKUSATI DA POBEDI A TO JE ONO STO JE VAZNO, A TO STO KAZES DA KAD IZGUBI DA IZGLEDA KAO POSRAN RAZMISLI MALO KAKO BI TI IZGLEDALA KAD BI IZGUBILA SVOJ OMILJENI TURNIR KOJI OSVAJAS VEC 5 PUTA ZA REDOM I MOLIM TE MI OBJASNI KO SI TI DA KAZES DA SE ON SKENJAO, JESI TI MOZDA BOLJA OD NJEGA CAK I SAD KAD IMA LOSU GODINU???I JOS SAMO NESTO TO STO SE NIJE POVUKAO POKAZUJE DA IMA MENTALNU SNAGU ZATO STO NE ODUSTAJE KADA JE NAJTEZE. ZATO TE MOLIM DA NE PISES NEKE STVARI KADA NE ZNAS STA SE USTVARI DESAVA
Fed is not finished, not yet. And don't you all Nadal lovers out there start wetting your pants when A-Rod will kick his behind to Mars and back. W O R D!
FEDERER JE SVOJE ODIGRAO... SKENJAO SE ZESTOKO... IZGUBIO JE TU NJEGOVU MENTALNU SNAGU KOJOM JE PRSTO LOMIO PROTIVNIKE
ALI SADA SE POJAVIO RAFICA NADAL KOJI JE POCEO DA POKAZUJE KAKO IZGLEDA BITI PRAVI BROJ 1... I BICE TESKO FEDERERU DA SE VRATI NA TU POZICIJU. BOLJE DA SE POVUKAO DOK JE BIO BROJ 1...
SAD CE FEDERERA NEKO ISECI NA US-OPEN-U I IMA DA IZADJE PONOVO POGNUTE GLAVE KO POSRAN..
BOLJE DA IDE SA ONOM NJEGOVOM DEBELOM MIRKOM NEK PRAVE SENDVAJE I NEK LEZE I JEDU......
A I TA NJEGOVA DEBELA MIRKA NEK MALO PREKINE DA SALJE SMS-ICE DOK JOJ DECKO IGRA MECH.. IZGLEDA DA NEMA KREDITA DA PRICA UZELA JE SAMO PAKET SA SMS-ICIMA HAHAHAHAAHHAHAAAHA
AL NEKA JE JADNA DEBELA .... NE SMEM NI DA ZAMISLIM KAKO ONA I FEDERER IZGLEDAJU U KREVETU
HORORRRRRRRRRRR HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAA
yup federer, less pressure but if he realized, so far nadal as no 2 seed always got the tougher draw. murray and djokovic always on his way before finals. those 2 are the most inform player beside nadal. so lets see how far can federer go this time.
When Roger Federer took the number one spot on the 4 of February/04, his style of play was amazing and mind blowing...the softness of his strokes brought a new level of intensity and beuty to tennis. Altough i wasn´t into tennis much from 2002 to 2005 i remember to hear the sports results on tv, the name Federer was always anounced, but too briefly for an athlete like him, making his triumphs look easy, making him invencible. When he entered the court, he couldnt be defeated, the other players weren´t able to believe that winning was possibly. In 2008 we have a different Roger Federer, altough some of his defeats may be due to the illness in the beginnig of the year, we have also watched a decrease in his style of play, making the swiss at some times look like a "normal" player. The point is, one of Federer´s strenghts is away from him, the aura of "godlike" player he had in the past is gone, which makes him have to struggle to win some "easy" matches. He HAS to find his mental strenght if he wants to keep playing on top standard game. Untill this happens he wont be able to win like before. Sorry for the long post. I dont think Roger will win the US Slam.
The Dkoker? Are you djoking? no way... he is too unstable ... mentally that is... Federer? Past his prime. Though he wont admit it...
Nadal? Yes!!! 2008 records would show!
nadal to win 1.25million RUPIAH
Nadal will emerge victorious. When you are on a roll everything seems to fall in place. Definitely, 2008 is the season of Nadal ( French, Wimbledon, Olympics...who can argue with results) Go Nadal!
I like the way you guys call Djokovic DA DJOKER - It fits him.
Federer cant accept the fact that his time is over... its time to give way man!!! Maybe Federer can produce good results in Doubles ( like the Olympics).
yes Nadal to win with ease to pocket CHEQUE 1.25$$ millions
HI DARLING JESSE ~~~ EVERYONE IS SEEDED NOWADAYS 1 TO 32 ------- ! /^^
BEST WISHES FOR YOUR "DREAM"
I think the US winner may go to an unseeded player thios time. That's just my guess.
Rafa is really tired. Federer is mentally ffukk'ed up. Djoko is too desperate to win. So somebody else more collected, in control of his emotions, good on serve and volley plus great resilience on long rallies is my guy to win. Sounds familiar? Your vote.
§§§§ WE ARE BACKING M SAFIN & ADORABLE PRETTI ELENA DEMENTIEVA
WONDERFUL TO SEE MORE THAN ONE PARTICIPANT CAPABLE OF WINNING ~~ V. INTERESTING
Please login to post a comment
Not already a Yahoo! user ? Sign up to get a free Yahoo! Account