Federer cruises to third major this year

The Swiss star blanked Lleyton Hewitt twice in his three-set sweep.

By Howard Fendrich ~ The Associated Press

NEW YORK -- Roger Federer is at his best against the best, when it counts the most, and he was pretty much perfect in the U.S. Open final.

Federer became the first man since 1988 to win three majors in a year, thoroughly outclassing Lleyton Hewitt 6-0, 7-6 (3), 6-0 Sunday to add the American Grand Slam title to those he took at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

There hadn't been two shutout sets in the event's championship match since 1884.

"It was a perfect start," Federer said. "Tough for Lleyton, obviously, but for me, a great start."

And here's what was particularly remarkable: The top-ranked Federer's opponent was no pushover. Federer dominated every facet against pugnacious, backward-cap wearing, "Come on!"-yelling, fist-pumping Hewitt, a former No. 1 and owner of two major titles, including the 2001 U.S. Open.

Federer led the fourth-seeded Hewitt in winners (40-12), aces (11-1), and service breaks (7-1), and won the point on 31 of 35 trips to the net.

And now there are all sorts of other impressive numbers Federer can lay claim to:

-- no one had won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open back-to-back since Pete Sampras in 1995;

-- including Wimbledon in 2003, Federer is 4-0 in major finals, the first man in the Open era to start a career by winning his first four;

-- he's won 11 straight tournament finals overall;

-- he's won 17 straight matches against players ranked in the top 10.

There's more: No man had captured consecutive major titles since Andre Agassi won the 1999 U.S. Open and 2000 Australian Open. The 18 Slams since then was the longest drought in the Open era.

"It's an incredible effort, what he's done," Hewitt said. "I don't think people probably realize how hard it is."

With his fluid, all-court game, cool demeanor and win-the-big-ones determination, Federer already is inspiring talk about whether he can challenge Sampras' record of 14 major titles. Sampras got No. 4 at age 22; Federer turned 23 last month.

"Roger is a complete player. He has the ability to change his game slightly as to what his opponent's doing to him," said 1946-47 U.S. Open winner Jack Kramer, inducted Sunday into the tournament's Court of Champions.

"He's so good on the defense and so good at the return of serve that he's forcing the other player mentally to get a little bit of scaredeness: 'I've got to serve a little better or Roger's going to knock it by me.' 'I've got to make a better approach shot or he's going to pass me.' He's getting errors because of the threat of his skills. That's why he's the champ."

That's precisely what Federer did against Hewitt, who entered Sunday 2-0 in Slam finals, had won 16 straight matches, and was trying to become the first man to win the Open without dropping a set since Neale Fraser in 1960.

Well, that vanished quickly.

Federer raced through the first set in all of 18 minutes, winning 24 of the 29 points, including the final 12. Hewitt needed half an hour just to win a game, and by then he was down a break in the second set, too.

Federer made only two unforced errors in the first, but his level dropped quite a bit in the second, when he made 20. And then, just like that, Federer turned it back on, winning 14 of the first 16 points in the third set.

The Swiss star did a little bit of everything, from powerful forehands to perfectly cut backhands, to feathery drop shots, to stinging volleys. At times, it was almost as if he were hitting certain shots and applying certain strategies just to show he can.

Federer faced his first break point while serving at 3-2 in the second set, and he dismissed it by closing the game this way: 125 mph ace, 128 mph ace, 124 mph ace. Don't forget: Hewitt, 23, is widely considered the top returner of their generation.

Hewitt finally came through with his lone break on his sixth and final chance, when Federer served for the second set at 5-4. They went into a tiebreaker, which Federer eased through despite not playing his best tennis -- the true mark of a champion.

Before this year, Federer never had been past the fourth round at the U.S. Open, losing at that stage each of the past three years. And he's been without a coach since firing Peter Lundgren in December.

Poor Hewitt. He lost to the eventual champion at each major this year, including to Federer in the fourth round of the Australian Open and the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. Federer lost eight of their first 10 meetings as pros, but he's 4-0 in 2004.

Mats Wilander was the last man to win three majors in a season, in 1988. Before that, Jimmy Connors did it in 1974. The last man to complete the Grand Slam was Rod Laver in 1969.

"He's a little better than everyone else at everything right now," Wilander said after the match. "Physically and mentally he has the advantage over the other players. At the moment, I don't see anyone who can beat him."

The only blemish for Federer this year? A third-round loss at Roland Garros to three-time French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten.

"He may go down in history -- he's getting there -- as the greatest player who's ever played," John McEnroe said.