Federer confident for US Open

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Riding in a car a few days before the start of the 2010 U.S. Open, Roger Federer was discussing the state of his game during a telephone interview when he suddenly interjected a warning.

“Just so you know, I’m going through the Midtown Tunnel here,” Federer said, “so if we get cut off, I’ll call you back, OK?”

Which illustrated two traits: The guy is exceedingly polite — and he knows his way around New York quite well.

The latter quality might result from so many extended stays in the Big Apple over the years, sticking around long enough to reach every men’s final at Flushing Meadows since 2004.

If there have been questions raised in recent months about where Federer’s career is headed, there is at least one person who is adamant that it’s far too soon to write him off.

You guessed it: Federer himself.

“As high as my confidence has been the last few years,” Federer said in an interview with The Associated Press, “I don’t feel like I’m any less confident.”

When the U.S. Open begins Monday, Rafael Nadal will try to complete a career Grand Slam, Andy Murray will seek his first major title and Novak Djokovic his second, and Andy Roddick will aim to end an American drought.

And Federer? He gets a chance to show that reports of his demise are premature, that he still possesses the on-court qualities that let him lord over tennis for so long: the slick movement, the sublime forehand, and the pinpoint serve on display in that popular is-it-real-or-fake? video catching millions of clicks on YouTube.

“Rafa, Murray and Djokovic are all looking good, too, so I think it’s going to be a U.S. Open with multiple favorites,” said Federer, who announced Saturday that he’s hiring Pete Sampras’ former coach, Paul Annacone. “But I guess I’m one of the big ones or bigger ones — if not the biggest one — because of my history here over the last six years, making the final each year.”

That run includes five U.S. Open championships, part of his record haul of 16 Grand Slam titles. It also helped Federer accumulate semifinals-or-better showings at a record 23 consecutive major tournaments, a streak that ended with a quarterfinal loss at this year’s French Open.

Another quarterfinal exit followed a month later at Wimbledon, where Federer has won six titles.

That pair of early-for-him exits by Federer, plus a six-month title drought, plus a brief slip to No. 3 in the rankings for the first time since 2003 (he’s now back up to No. 2, behind Nadal), plus his age (he turned 29 on Aug. 8), led some to wonder whether he would ever win another Grand Slam title.

But Federer has heard negative talk before.

In 2008, he went through a stretch of — what?! — three Grand Slam tournaments without taking a title, losing to Djokovic in the Australian Open semifinals, then Nadal in the French Open and Wimbledon finals.

After losing to Tomas Berdych at Wimbledon, Federer said his leg and back had been bothering him since before the tournament.

Now : “No problems; no aches and pains; no issues,” he says.

And, that’s no small feat in tennis these days. The man who put an end to Federer’s 40-match U.S. Open winning streak in last year’s final, Juan Martin del Potro, is not defending the title because he’s still recovering from wrist surgery in May.

The No. 1-ranked woman, Serena Williams, is skipping a tournament she’s won three times, citing surgery to repair cuts on her foot that she’s never fully explained. Two-time champion Justine Henin is done for the year with an elbow injury.

The list goes on. Defending women’s champion Kim Clijsters says acupuncture helped her get over a left hip problem that bothered her this month.

Maria Sharapova, who won the 2006 U.S. Open, pulled out of a tuneup tournament with a bad foot after having to deal with shoulder surgery and an elbow injury in recent years.

All of which makes it that much more impressive that this U.S. Open will be Federer’s 44th major tournament in a row, the most among active men.