Flushing Meadows provides Roger Federer will the opportunity to create history. Not only could he become the first man to win a 20th grand slam title, he also has the chance to extend his record 302-week reign as world No.1.
At the start of the year he dropped to a low of 17th in the world following a six-month absence due to injury. Since then, the 36-year-old has climbed up the rankings to third in the world. In 2017 Federer has already won two grand slam trophies and two Masters 1000 titles. Only Rafael Nadal has won more points than him on the tour this year.
“I didn’t expect a year like this, especially after the difficulties I had last year with my knee and my back—everything was bad, really, last year.” Federer told Vanity Fair earlier in the week.
“And here I am, fighting for world No. 1, won two Slams already this year, another five titles—I mean, it’s something super special, so in some ways, it feels like the best season of my life.”
Federer enters Flushing Meadows 320 points behind Nadal. He has reached the quarter-finals or better at 11 out of his 12 most most recent appearances in New York. Seeded third in the draw, he will start his 2017 campaign against Frances Tiafoe and be bidding to win his 79th match at the tournament.
The most straightforward route to No.1 for Federer is to win the title, winning his third major within a season for the first time since 2007. Any other scenario relies on the outcome of how his rivals Nadal and Andy Murray perform.
The three scenarios for No.1
1) Runner-up: Federer will be No.1 only if Andy Murray doesn’t win the title.
2) Semi-finalist: Requires Nadal to not reach the semifinals and for Murray to not reach the final
3) Quarter-finalist: Needs Nadal to crash out before the second round and for Murray to not reach the semifinal stage
Recently playing down the significance of a back injury that forced him out of the Cincinatti Open, Federer is remaining cool over his US Open chances. When asked about the prospect of winning a third major this season, he described the situation as ‘surreal.’
“I mean, I have a hard time thinking I could win three Slams in one year. It just sounds totally surreal to me,” Federer said in an interview with The Associated Press. “But I’ll prepare myself the best way possible, so that I will have the best chance to really excel there in New York.”
This year is Federer’s 17th appearance at the US Open. The five-time champion will play his first round match against Tiafoe on Tuesday.
Roger Federer’s path to the #USOpen final:
1R Tiafoe
2R Youzhny
3R Lopez
4R Kyrgios
QF Thiem/Delpo
SF Nadal/Dimitrov
F Murray/Zverev— Gaspar Ribeiro Lança (@gasparlanca) 25 August 2017
