General / Simon Mundie / 15 September 2008 /

After Roger Federer wrapped up the US Open in devastating fashion, the experts are revising their predictions of his demise. Simon Mundie reckons the Swiss could still be winning titles well into his thirties.

So in quite devastating fashion, Roger Federer proved his detractors wrong. He romped to his fifth consecutive US Open title with a sublime display of all court tennis against Andy Murray in the final, having taken care of world number 3 Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals.

Up until that point, it had been a disappointing year by his ridiculously lofty standards. Federer had only won two fairly minor tour titles; had lost his Australian Open crown to Djokovic, as well as his Wimbledon crown and his number one ranking to Rafael Nadal. Having gone through the previous four seasons picking up major titles seemingly at will while only registering a handful of losses; he had looked ill at ease, and had suffered reverses to a number of players who he would have been expected to dispatch without difficulty. He was thrashed by American journeyman Mardy Fish in the semi-finals of Indian Wells, and also lost to Andy Roddick, Radek Stepanek, Ivo Karlevic, Gilles Simon and James Blake during the course of the year.

Fans and experts were clamouring over one another to write the Swiss off, saying it was unlikely he would be able to reach the very pinnacle of men's tennis again, and that Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam titles was in all likelihood safe. And then came those marvellous two weeks at Flushing Meadows. For the first time Nadal went into the tournament as top seed and favourite for the title, having won the French Open, Wimbledon, the Olympics and a handful of Masters Series titles. People were talking about the greatest single season since Rod Laver won the calendar Grand Slam in 1969.

Nadal couldn't pull it off- crashing out in the semi-finals to Scotland's Andy Murray, while Federer was displaying glimpses of his best form against Djokovic in the other semi-final. In the final, it all came together for the Swiss maestro- Murray was powerless to do anything as Federer romped home in three convincing sets.

Within minutes of the match finishing, the experts were revising their opinions about his demise. Mats Wilander, himself a former World number one and someone who had been guilty of claiming Federer's best days were behind him, said: "I would say he's going to win more Grand Slams, many more, if he plays with the kind of passion he has now... I'm now 100% convinced he will break Pete Sampras' record".

So will he break the record, and if so when? Well, after his US Open heroics, he's now been installed as the favourite for the Australian Open [2.84] ahead of arch rival Nadal [3.5]. Last time down under, Federer was suffering the ill effects of a bout of glandular fever and looked half a step slow during his semi-final loss to Djokovic. This time out he should have no such worries, so a fourth Australian Open could certainly be on the cards, particularly after Nadal's hard court deficiencies were once again exposed at the US Open.

If he does go and take the title in Melbourne, that would bring him level with Sampras' record. Then it would be on to Roland Garros for his yearly pursuit of immortality on the clay of Paris, where in all likelihood he will fall short once more against the Spanish king of clay. If that does happen, he will again need to regroup as he looks to regain the title he treasures most- the Wimbledon crown. It would be fitting if he did win there, thus breaking the record, on the same court where he first served notice of his potential by ending Sampras' reign as the king of SW19 in 2001.

So if all goes to plan- he will be the most successful Grand Slam Champion of all time by the middle of next year, at the age of 28. With that monkey off his back, and his place as the world's greatest ever player more or less assured, it would be hardly suprising if he kicked on and won several more Major Championships. Federer has such a fluid style of play, and so rarely suffers serious injury, he may be able to contend for Grand Slam titles into his thirties, as Andre Agassi did, and if that's the case, he could end up winning close to twenty titles, which would surely be a record that would never be broken.

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