Last Night's Action: Five for Federer

Entering Monday's U.S. Open final, Roger Federer was looking at a season without a major title. Only Federer could make the finals of three grand slams and the semifinals of the other and be disappointed with his season. Then he stepped on the court -- a day later than scheduled thanks to Saturday's rain -- and demolished Scotland's Andy Murray in straight sets to win his fifth straight U.S. Open title. Sure, Federer caught a break that he had an extra day of rest after he finished Saturday. He also wasn't shedding any tears that he got Murray and not world No. 1 Rafael Rafael. Murray beat Nadal, Federer's main foil, in four sets over two days.

But soon no one will care about the situations in which Federer won his 13 grand slam titles. For most of the match, Federer looked like the guy who won four straight U.S. Open titles before having the worst season in five years in his career. His serve -- always underappreciated thanks to his footwork and his groundstrokes -- was on and his forehand wasn't as errant as it has been in the past. The only point in which he had to exert himself was at two games all, love-40 in the second set, but he battled through that, won the set, 7-5. The third set was on cruise control.

Federer also benefited from some support from the New York crowd. In the past, the Flushing Meadows patrons gave him proper support, but this year they genuinely seemed to want Federer to win this year. They weren't disappointed.

Angels 12, Yankees 1: The only drama in this game came when Ivan Rodriguez took exception to Torii Hunter stealing with the Angels up, 6-1. (If you don't want to be embarrassed, don't fall behind by five runs.) Anyway, after Hunter stole second and then third and then collided with the catcher at home plate, Rodriguez game him a little nudge. Hunter than ran up and pushed Rodriguez in the back, and the benches came out so everyone could defend his manhood. Ridiculous. Hunter and Rodriguez both got ejected.

Photo of Roger Federer celebrating after defeating Andy Murray by AP/Julie Jacobson

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By Tom Boorstein on September 9, 2008 12:01 AM

Comments [rss]

JMH

Prior to this match, Murray had been 2-1 against Federer. The fact that Murray had played on Sunday and Federer hadn't since Saturday played a HUGE role in how tired Murray looked in the third set.

babyhitler

#11 - he is the greatest ever. If you say he's boring then you must know shit about tennis. He's just economically efficient with his placement. Unlike Nadal, who runs ragged all the time Fed just knows how to do everything just right. Look how skinny this guys arms and legs are compared to Nadal! Even Ballboys have bigger guns than Federer. He doesn't kill you with power or speed, just crazy placement. The poster boy for Boring tennis was and still is Pete Sampras. Just serve and volley and a occasional overhead smash and that was it.

PTG in nyc

The only reason why he's "bland" or why people might consider him a douche is because you're probably tired of seeing him win and hoped that he and Nadal could have more epic matches like this year's Wimbeldon final. The guy also manages to barely ever break a sweat and he makes things look a little too easy on the court, but he's just an awesome player and is entertaining enough to watch.

babyhitler

funny how making it to 3 grand slam finals in a year is a dissapointment. I see Fed winning at least 4 more. If you look at the history of the sport, most Tennis players have a golden age of 5 years to win everything. after age 27 they go downhill. Fed's only going to decline but he'll have sporadic wins and that'll be enough to put him over the top of sampras 14 grand slam wins. He should be going for steffi graf's record of 18 grand slams though. that would be an awesome achievement.

chris lee

Federer came out swinging and Murray didn't know what hit him. Federer took him to school and showed him the gap between #4 or #6 or whatever he (Murrya) is and what it means to play like him (Federer) and Nadal in a final. Federer is a walking tennis clinic. I love to watch him play, he truly is a maestro. Would love to see him win the French next year and either Wimbledon or the Open for the record of most slams.

berniegoetz

This photo is crying out to become fodder for a Photoshop meme like...

http://glumosh.blogspot.com/