Remembering Roger Federer’s five US Open wins

Remembering Roger Federer’s five US Open wins

There’s not many players who have enjoyed such a fruitful and successful career in tennis than Roger Federer, with many agreeing that he is the greatest ever player to grace the game. To date, Federer has 20 Grand Slam titles to his name, with five of those coming at the US Open. His five wins all came consecutively, which is a record at Flushing Meadows as well as his number of wins. 

If Federer was to win an unprecedented sixth title, it would be a fitting end to his extraordinary career with the final chapters almost upon us. Currently, the US Open men’s winner betting on Betfair has Federer priced at third favourite (6/1). Before the tournament starts in August, let’s remind ourselves of Federer’s five wins from 2004 to 2008. 

2004

Federer’s first US Open win came 15 years ago now, and meant it was his third Grand Slam win of the year. The early rounds saw him cruise past the likes of Albert Costa, Marcos Baghdatis, Fabrice Santoro and Andrei Pavel (by walkover) to set up a quarter-final showdown with Andre Agassi.   

The legendary American gave it his best shot but ultimately, Federer proved too much to handle and won an exciting five-setter. That meant a semi-final against Tim Henman, which the Swiss Maestro win in straight sets. Lleyton Hewitt was his opponent in the final and Federer demonstrated what he was all about as he brushed him aside 6-0, 7-6 (7-3), 6-0. 

2005

Federer carried on where he left off and won the first three rounds without dropping a set, which included victories over Ivo Minar, Santoro and Olivier Rochus before defeating Nicolas Kiefer in the fourth round over four sets. 

This brought about a quarter-final tie against David Nalbandian, who stood little chance against the brilliance of Federer before Hewitt was provided a chance to redeem himself from last year’s defeat in the semis. Federer saw off his Australian opponent in four sets before old rival Agassi was beaten in the final, once again, over four sets 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(7-1), 6-1.  

2006

Federer’s 2006 win meant it was three in a row at Flushing Meadows and he became the sixth man to reach all four Grand Slam finals in the same year, winning three of those. The defence of his US Open crown began with a victory against un-seeded Wang Yeu-tzuoo before victories over further un-seeded opponents: Henman, Vincent Spadea and Marc Gicquel set up a quarter-final clash with James Blake. 

Federer was pushed hard by the American and eventually won a four-set thriller, before cruising past Nikolay Davydenko in the semis to face ninth seed Andy Roddick in the final. After a minor scare in the second set, Federer made sure his hat-trick of titles was never in doubt as he won 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.  

2007

Federer made history with his fourth US Open title, which meant it was his twelfth Grand Slam title and the third consecutive year he won three out of four tennis majors. The first round saw him dispatch Scoville Jenkins in straight sets before Paul Capdeville became Federer’s next victim. The third and fourth rounds were slightly more testing as both John Isner and Feliciano Lopez pushed Federer to four sets. 

Roddick was beaten by Federer in the quarters in straight sets before Davydenko fell to Federer the second year in a row,which teed up a final with Novak Djokovic. It was the Serbian’s first-ever Grand Slam final and he made quite the impression, but he had no answer to Federer who won 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-2), 6-4. 

2008

Some might argue that 2008 was an off year for Federer, whereby he only won a solitary major but he made history in the process with his win in the Open. A fifth title meant that he equalled the record for most modern era wins shared with Pete Sampras and Jimmy Connors, and still stands as a record for most consecutive wins. 

Maximo Gonzalez was easily beaten by Federer in the first round, and victories over Thiago Alves, Radek Stepanek, and Igor Andreev meant a quarter-final clash with Gilles Muller was next for the Swiss Maestro. A comfortable straight sets win quickly ensued which meant another clash with Djokovic for a place in the final. After an entertaining four-setter, Federer took on first-time Grand Slam finalist Andy Murray where Federer won in, funnily enough, straight sets to complete his fifth US Open title.