Roger Federer has named two of his rivals as the main contenders for this year’s US Open following his loss at the Cincinnati Open.
Federer was unable to win an eighth title at the American Masters event after falling in straight sets to Novak Djokovic on Sunday. The erratic performance saw the Swiss player hit a total of 39 unforced errors as a more consistent Djokovic sized his chances. Extending his lead to 24-22 in their head-to-head.
“It was definitely not my best day on the return. That’s it. It was just awful. But it’s okay. I mean, he served well. But missing every second serve on the forehand side, I don’t know what that was about.” Federer said during his press conference.
“I don’t even want to look for reasons why it happened. I just think it did. Novak totally deserved to win today. This (match) was not good enough.”
The next challenge for Federer will be the upcoming US Open, which will get underway next Monday. He will be bidding to win the New York major for the first time in 10 years. Since claiming the 2008 title, he has reached the final twice in eight attempts with the most recent occurring in 2015.
Looking ahead to the final grand slam of the season, the 37-year-old has distanced himself from the favourite label. Instead, he has named Djokovic and Rafael Nadal as the two main contenders for the title. Nadal is the current US Open champion and Djokovic is a two-time champion.
“I’m not the favourite; they are. Rafa and Novak, in my opinion.” Said Federer. “I’m happy that my level is there. I just need to figure out my game, get used to different balls.”
“That’s going to be just something I’m going to be working on. I just gotta come up with a lot of energy, and then hopefully I also have a chance after 10 years to do something special again at the Open.”
Beyond the US Open, the 20-time grand slam champion believes the resurgence of other players will make an ‘exciting’ end to the year in men’s tennis. Stan Wawrinka, who took Federer to three sets in Cincinnati, has risen back to 101st in the world after falling to 263rd in June. Meanwhile, Andy Murray is gaining momentum in his comeback as well as others.
“I think it will be a very exciting end to the season, because everybody’s going to probably be healthy or healthier again.” The 20-time grand slam champion predicted.
“It’s nice to see Novak come back, and Milos (Raonic) has been playing great tennis again. Stan (Wawrinka) seems solid again. Same with Nishikori. These are all guys that we were missing for the last nine months or so.”
Next week will be Federer’s 18th appearance at the US Open. He currently has a success rate of 87% at the tournament, winning 82 out of 94 matches played.
