NEW YORK: Roger Federer likes his chances of winning the US Open after a resurgent run to the Wimbledon final and aggressive play that produced a tuneup title last week at Cincinnati.
But the 34-year-old Swiss star, winner of a record 17 Grand Slam singles titles but none since Wimbledon in 2012, isn't looking past his first opponent when the Flushing Meadows fortnight opens Monday.
"I feel like I have a good chance but I really can't think further than my first-round opponent right now," Federer said Saturday.
"My focus needs to be not trying to win the tournament right away. That would be thinking too far ahead. I haven't been in the finals in this tournament as of late. I came close but close is not good enough."
Federer won five consecutive US Opens from 2004-2008 and reached the 2009 final, losing to Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro in a five-set battle. Since then he has reached every other major final at least once but not in New York.
His immediate concern is 33rd-ranked Leonardo Mayer, his first-match foe from Argentina.
Federer was surprised to find Mayer had not been seeded. Finding him across the net in match one was one reason Federer saw his draw as especially tough, with Czech sixth seed Tomas Berdych a possible quarter-final rival and either British third seed Andy Murray or French Open winner Stan Wawrinka potentially waiting in the semi-finals.
"I didn't know he was unseeded. Total shock for me to see I was going to play him. That's one reason I think it's a really tough draw," Federer said.
"I'm really just focused on the first round. It's really tough to be playing Leonardo Mayer so I have to come back to reality after the good week I had last week and go from there."
Federer won their only prior meeting 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (9/7) in the second round of the Shanghai ATP Masters event last year.
"The Shanghai match was one of the toughest ones I've ever won in my career," Federer said.
"I like the power he has plus the serve, which makes him tough to control from the baseline. Always got to try to make an athletic match and there's tons of movement, shorten the points on my terms. He's a challenge. I hope I can play with confidence and use my experience against a player like this."
Comments
Comments are closed.