Former world No.4 Tim Henman believes Roger Federer will be the stand out favourite to win this year’s US Open title in New York.
The 35-year-old recently created history at the Wimbledon championships by claiming his eighth trophy at SW19 and 19th grand slam title overall. Since returning to the tour in January, Federer has only lost two matches (failing to convert match points in both of them). Apart from Wimbledon, he has also won titles in Melbourne, Indian Wells, Miami and Halle this season.
Federer’s surge on the tour has been hailed by Henman, who played him 13 times on the tour between 1999-2006. Looking ahead to the final grand slam of the year, he has tipped Federer to win his 20th major title.
“Right now he would [be favourite],” Henman told Sky Sports. “I think there’s going to be a few changes between now and then but he’s playing as well as anyone.”
The favourite label given to the Swiss player comes as some of his rivals struggle. Recently, two out of the ‘big four’ has been marred by injury in the lead up to the second half of 2017. Andy Murray is continuing rehabilitation on his arm and recently visited a specialist in Switzerland. Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic is expected to miss the US Open due to a bruise bone that requires rest. Djokovic will confirm his plans for the future in a press conference on Wednesday afternoon in Belgrade.
The greatest ever?
As the most decorated grand slam champion, a debate has arisen about if Federer is the greatest tennis player of all time. So far in his career, he has won 93 ATP titles and played in 70 grand slam tournaments. Weighing in on the debate, Henman admits it is difficult to declare Federer the greatest of all time due to the different generations of the sport.
“In my opinion, he is [the best], but I think it’s difficult to compare generations,” said Henman.
“You think of Rod Laver who won all four Majors in a calendar year – he did that twice. And for seven years of his professional career he didn’t play Grand Slams because he turned professional. So how many Majors would he have won?
“And then you reflect, the four Grand Slams were on grass when he played. So if you had (Pete) Sampras playing three of the four Grand Slams on grass, I’m sure he would’ve won a lot more.
“But right now it does come down to a numbers game and Federer’s won 19 Grand Slams – that’s the most of any player, any male player, so he would go down as my best of all time.”
With no points to defend for the rest of the year, Federer is closing in on returning back to world No.1. A position he hasn’t held since November 2012. Skipping the Rogers Cup, he will return to action at the Cincinnati Masters next month.
