Deja Vu All Over Again

Apparently, the reports of the death of Roger Federer's aura were greatly exaggerated.

Just ask Andy Murray.


Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images

Federer came into this U.S. Open with one final chance in 2008 to turn back the clock to 2005-07, reclaim the form that made him the world's best player for four years running and saw him nipping at the heels of the all-time greats in the record books while (conservatively) being placed shoulder-to-shoulder with Rod Laver in the mythical "Greatest of All Time" power pyramid. He had some rough going at times in New York, being forced to five sets by Igor Andreev and even being tested by qualifier Gilles Muller. But he moved past both with a noticeable upping of his on-court emotion quotient making up for the occasional lapses in his game.

Along the way, the recently-deposed King Roger became the crowd favorite. So much so, he even said he felt like he was a "real New Yorker." In Monday's rain-delayed final against Murray, Federer put out of its misery a season of "almosts" and "near-misses" with a thorough dissection of the overmatched and tired Scot, winning 6-2/7-5/6-2 to claim his fifth straight U.S. Open crown, and thirteenth career slam singles title, one behind Pete Sampras' all-time men's record.

Wilted by a third straight day of play (Federer last played in the early afternoon on Saturday), Murray put up little resistance once the fates turned against him, save for a brief uprising after falling down 5-0 in the 3rd when he broke Federer's serve and threatened to force the four-time defending champ to attempt to serve out the match a second time. On the final point of the match, Murray's scrambles forced Federer to hit two overhead smashes before finally crumbling to the court in celebration... or was it relief that he had avoided doing the unthinkable -- going an entire season without winning a slam title?

Finally, Federer's name is once again tied to history. His fifth straight Open title is second to only Bill Tilden's six in the 1920's, and he's the first man to ever win two different slams (also Wimbledon) five consecutive times. In a minor footnote, his five straight finals in New York have come against five different men, none of which have been named Nadal (Tilden faced just two different men in the final during his run).

Murray could have become the first man from Great Britain since Fred Perry in 1936 (and the first Brit since Virginia Wade in 1978) to claim a slam singles championship. The new world #4 wasn't able to do it, but off-court work should only continue to pay dividends in future seasons. It's pretty clear, that he's got quite a good chance to succeed on the big stages where Tim Henman always managed to ultimately fail.

Just as Federer's mastery in this match produced a severe case of deja vu, so did Murray's comments following the match. Calling Federer "the best player who ever lived," one could almost hear the little voice in the Swiss Mister's head reassuring him, "See, Roger... I TOLD you that the days of your opponents saying such things weren't over."

With an Olympic Gold and continued Open domination serving as encouraging signs as 2008 hits its home stretch, maybe we WILL find out in 2009 that this season's "troubles" were largely a result of the lingering effects of Federer's battle with mono at the start of this season. Of course, only Federer could have a season with a slam title, two slam runners-up and one SF result, a co-starring role in "The Greatest Match Ever Played" and the #2 ranking in the world be considered a "disappointment."

If this is the beginning of "The Comeback," next season is going to be one for the ages.



*ALL-TIME MEN'S SINGLES SLAM*
14...Pete Sampras
13...ROGER FEDERER
12...Roy Emerson
11...Bjorn Borg
11...Rod Laver
10...Bill Tilden

*CAREER MEN'S SLAM TITLES - ACTIVE*
13...ROGER FEDERER
11..Bob Bryan
10...Mahesh Bhupathi
10...Leander Paes
9...Jonas Bjorkman
8...Mike Bryan

*RECENT U.S. OPEN MEN'S FINALS*
2003 Andy Roddick d. Juan Carlos Ferrero
2004 Roger Federer d. Lleyton Hewitt
2005 Roger Federer d. Andre Agassi
2006 Roger Federer d. Andy Roddick
2007 Roger Federer d. Novak Djokovic
2008 Roger Federer d. Andy Murray

*MOST CONSECUTIVE TITLES AT A SLAM - OPEN ERA*
5...Bjorn Borg, Wimbledon 1976-80
5...Roger Federer, Wimbledon 2003-07
5...ROGER FEDERER, US OPEN 2004-08
4...Bjorn Borg, Roland Garros 1978-81
4...Pete Sampras, Wimbledon 1997-00
4...Rafael Nadal, Roland Garros 2005-08

*MOST CONSECUTIVE U.S. OPEN TITLES*
[since 1912]
6...Bill Tilden, 1920-25
5...ROGER FEDERER, 2004-08
3...Ivan Lendl, 1985-87
3...John McEnroe, 1979-81




All for now.

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How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pop?

Or, in tennis terms, how many months does it take for Roger Federer to shake off his early-season bout with mono and begin to resemble -- most of the time, anyway -- the player who was seemingly a slam win or two away from being unquestionably dubbed "The Greatest of All Time" at this time last year?

Well, it looks like it could be a little over eight months.

Playing in his eighteenth consecutive grand slam semifinal, Roger Federer drew the opening match straw for his meeting with Novak Djokovic on Day Thirteen... which proved to be unlucky for every other player and fan on the grounds, thanks to Hurricane Hanna.

With an 11am start, Federer managed to glide past his Serbian opponent after Djokovic led 5-4 in the 3rd set and looked to be ready to take a two sets to one lead. With the crowd on his side, Federer pulled off a break of serve and ended up winning the set 7-5. He cruised through a 6-2 4th to win his thirty-third straight U.S. Open match and advance to his third slam final in 2008, and thirteenth in the last fourteen slams.

Not bad for an "off" year.

Who he'll play in an attempt to win his fifth straight Open title won't be determined until Sunday thanks to the rain that struck in the 3rd set of the Rafael Nadal/Andy Murray match. What Federer DOES know, though, is that he'll have a day of rest tomorrow, as the Men's final won't be played until Monday afternoon.

There have been signs over the past few rounds that indicate that Federer might be slowly but surely regaining the form and consistency that characterized his last four seasons, but has been often been absent this year. Oh, he's hardly been as perfect as the "old" Federer, but he's closer. A little. If he can do it for one more match, he can "rescue" his '08 season with a slam and get within one of Pete Sampras' all-time record of fourteen. About eight months later than he likely expected, but so be it.

Maybe more intriguingly, though, a championship victory could see Federer give his confidence level a long-overdue boost, and possibly propel him into a more Federer-esque 4th Quarter of the season... then prepare himself for something of a "comeback" campaign in 2009.

Haha. It says something about Federer's 2004-07 seasons that he could be even seen as having the ability to put together a "comeback" following a season in which he could win a slam and finish #2 in the rankings.



=DAY 13 NOTES=
You know, it would have been nice to know exactly how the final game of the Federer/Djokovic match played out today, but the local Washington D.C. CBS affiliate (WUSA-TV) chose the commercial break at 5-2 in the 4th to have a special weather update to tell everyone that - in case anyone who'd been drenched over the previous ten hours or so didn't know it yet -- it was raining outside. The radar showed it to be so. And I was soooo sure that it wouldn't, and that soaking I'd received when I went outside a few hours before was only a figment of my imagination. Apparently not.

Anyway, the channel decided to go back to the match just as Federer was shaking Djokovic's hand at the net. I guess he won the game. I mean, unless that was a figment of my imagination, too.

...in the second men's SF, Andy Murray took a two sets to none lead over Rafael Nadal. In the 3rd, Nadal was holding a break lead at 3-2 when the rains came and the rest of the day's schedule was cancelled. It's either a dream or a nightmare scenario for both players.

It'll be tough for Nadal to come back with no margin of error when play resumes Sunday afternoon, but he'll have a whole night and morning to refresh himself and get tactical advice from uncle Toni. As for Murray, well, he seemed on his way to his first slam final. Now, he'll have almost twenty-four hours to think about it. With only two and a half sets possible on Sunday, Nadal won't have any physical/fitness advantage in a five-set match now, but one wonders if Mother Nature might have created some real doubt about what could have been (and still could be) the greatest moment in Murray's career to date.

...of course, Queen Chaos and her Williams sister opponent will have to wait an extra day to play the women's final. They'll now go on Sunday night.

Hmmm... an odd occurrence with a match featuring Jelena Jankovic? No! Say it ain't so.

Of course, maybe this is all a figment of my imagination, too. Maybe this entire Backspin is a figment of my imagination. Maybe that little leprechaun in the corner is a figment of-...






All for Day 13. More tomorrow.

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BACKSPIN TIME CAPSULE: 1991 U.S. Open

Sometimes, you just never know.



In 1991, 38-year old Jimmy Connors' time in the tennis spotlight had seemingly past. He played just three matches in 1990 (going 0-3), and the eight-time slam champion saw his ranking fall to #936. Wrist surgery followed. As the '91 season advanced, he started to stir... if only a bit. He entered the U.S. Open that year with a 9-9 record on the year, but with a pair of respectable 3rd Round finishes at Roland Garros (where he was even with #10-ranked Michael Chang after four sets before retiring) and Wimbledon.

At least Connors wasn't going to leave as a total shadow of his former. That was the prevailing opinion as the summer inched toward its conclusion. With his ranking up to #174, Connors was granted a wild card into the Open main draw. For the man who had personified what the tournament represented and had become, it was a nice, understandable gesture by the USTA.

Little did we know that in two weeks time we'd be able to ruminate over a prolonged display of tennis theater never seen before or since, all produced by the greatest showman the sport has ever known.



Seventeen years and countless classic U.S. Open moments later, nothing has ever matched Connors' remarkable, unexpected and inspiring run. Here's what I said about it all in the aftermath:



"An Open for the Ages... especially 39" (September 1991)

Just call it The Jimmy Connors Open. Jimbo Does New York. The Ageless Wonder Finds the Fountain of Youth. King Jimmy and His Faithful Court.

Whatever you want to say about this U.S. Open, possibly the best ever thanks to the stories galore it provided (Jimbo, Martina, Capriati vs. Seles in the semifinals, etc.), you cannot discuss it unless you begin and end the festivities with a mention of the 39-year old who turned on crowds, a tournament, a nation and the entire world (even "Nightline" had a special show devoted to Connors).

What Jimmy Connors did here will never be forgotten. His first U.S. Open was twenty-one years ago. He's won it five times, but his last title was eight years ago. And he's still, and will forever be, the only player to win the Open on three different surfaces. But what he did this year may top all the other years combined.

Connors didn't play here in 1990 thanks to wrist surgery which seemed to have ended his career. But he returned and gutted it out at the French Open before retiring against Michael Chang, and was competitive at Wimbledon as the first ever play on the middle Sunday only served to bring out the "juice" and enthusiasm that would epitomize "the Jimbo way" at this U.S. Open.

But what Connors did earlier this season pales in comparison. He entered this tournament via a wild card berth ranked #174 in the world. With his neon racket in hand (or was it his magic wand?), he led the nation on a magical mystery tour from which it may never fully recover. Or want to.



Out of the heat and in primetime, Jimbo worked his magic. In the 1st Round, he was down 4-6/6-7/0-3, love-40 to Patrick McEnroe. Then, it happened. It was like a sleeping giant being woken from a long nap. A giant who could inspire millions. A giant who could move mountains. A giant who made dreams come true. Connors came back, fist-pumping, wind-milling, gyrating and crowd-thrilling to whip McEnroe in five sets after four and a half hours of play. The clock read 1:35am. Amazing.

But it didn't end there, even though it could have and the world would have been happy. Thanks to a nice draw and schedule of play that took the sun out of the equation and moved the big show under the lights, Connors defeated Michiel Schapers (2nd Rd.) and Karel Novacek (3rd) for the right to face Aaron Krickstein on Jimbo's 39th birthday -- Labor Day. How fitting.

In front of a national television audience, he did it again.

Against the younger Krickstein (who isn't?), Connors came back from 2-5 down in the 5th set to win the match in a tie-break at 7-4 after four hours and forty-one minutes more in the hot sun. Even more incredible.

Next came Paul Haarhuis in the Round of 16, where Jimbo found himself a set and a break down. And BAM! Jimmy Connors... 39-year old Jimmy Connors... was a U.S. Open semifinalist. The nation was enthralled. The sports world was amazed. Connors was just having fun. Hurting, but having fun.



By now, Jimbo was a national figure of youth in the face of marching time. Enthusiasm in the face of spoiled athletic superstars. Everyone, EVERYONE, wanted to see how Jimbo was doing. Everyone wanted him to win. We even started to believe (gasp!) that he COULD.

When the stronger and nearly twenty years younger Jim Courier defeated him in the semifinals, the Open was essentially over. Sure, Stefan Edberg would breeze to his first U.S. Open title, but the tournament's heartbeat ceased once Jimbo had lost. No one really cared after that. How could we? We had lived and died point-by-point with Connors for two weeks. Losing hope one moment, only to be astonished once again soon afterward... and again, and again, and again, trying to tell ourselves that we couldn't believe it -- even if we all wanted desperately to do just that.

Courier brought everyone down to earth once again. But it didn't matter. Jimbo had sucked us in with his fire, and there was no way any of us could get burned. His smile and guts wouldn't let us.

In the span of two weeks, the Jimbo with bad manners from the past was gone. The Jimbo that so many loved to hate was gone, too. It's all forgotten, even if we all were reminded of how he used to be once in a while in an occasional foul-mouthed blowup. Jimbo is a hero now. He's everyone's favorite. He's us. He's Mr. Tennis. He's Elvis. He's Madonna. He's Houdini. You name it, he's it.

Unfortunately, he's also 39 and doesn't have too many years left (yes, years -- he says he could make it to 45). Then what does tennis do? John McEnroe is going to go before Jimbo does. Where is the personality and success and fire all rolled up into one going to come from? Where will the emotional heart of men's tennis be?

When told of Pete Sampras saying he was relieved that "the ton of bricks" was off his back after he lost while defending his '90 U.S. Open crown, Connors said, ""What? Don't tell me that! That's the biggest crock of dump! Being the U.S. Open champion is what I've lived for. If these guys are relieved at LOSING, something is wrong with the game -- and wrong with them."

Only Courier seems to come close to Connors in spirit. He called Jimbo "unbelievable," but he, too, fights, hustles, grits out wins and has "the fire." Does Courier remind you of yourself, Jimmy?

"Nobody reminds me of me," said Jimbo.

Is that arrogance? Maybe. But it's also the truth. Too bad. But, then again, could anyone EVER remind us of Connors?

Thanks, Jimbo. You gave us a ride that we'll never forget.



*MOST CAREER ATP TITLES*
109...JIMMY CONNORS
94...Ivan Lendl
77...John McEnroe
64...Pete Sampras
62...Bjorn Borg
62...Guillermo Vilas
60...Andre Agassi

*WEEKS AT #1*
286...Pete Sampras
270...Ivan Lendl
268...JIMMY CONNORS
237...Roger Federer

*CONSECUTIVE WEEKS AT #1*
237...Roger Federer
160...JIMMY CONNORS

*U.S. OPEN SINGLES WINS*
98...JIMMY CONNORS
79...Andre Agassi
73...Ivan Lendl

*U.S. OPEN NIGHTTIME WINS*
28...Andre Agassi
24...JIMMY CONNORS
20...Pete Sampras



No Open since the one that hosted Connors' 1991 exploits has gone by without the memory of what he did seventeen years ago being resurrected, reminisced about or longed for again on some level. Just seeing the short clip of him celebrating one of those remarkable wins in the CBS coverage's opening montage of past U.S. Open images is enough to elicit a grin.

If Mother Nature complies, we'll usually get to see a bit of that birthday comeback against Krickstein via replay, as well. By now, it's probably the most re-watched moment in slam history this side of the fabled Borg-McEnroe Wimbledon tie-break in 1980.

"[T]here's always somebody out there who's willing to push it that extra inch, or mile, and that was me. (Laughter) I didn't care if it took me thirty minutes or five hours. If you beat me, you had to be the best, or the best you had that day. But that was my passion for the game. If I won, I won, and if I lost, well, I didn't take it so well."

In all, Connors won eight slam titles in his career (all but Roland Garros, where he reached the SF four times). He's one of three men to win slam titles on hard court, grass and clay (when the Open was played on green clay), along with Mats Wilander and Andre Agassi. His 109 tour titles, 1337 wins, 1622 matches, 401 tournaments and 233 slam match wins are all all-time records. No man had more Top 10 finishes -- sixteen, tied with Agassi -- in his career. The year-end #1-ranked player from 1974-78, Connors held the top spot for 160 consecutive weeks, a record that stood until it was broken by Roger Federer. In 2005, Tennis magazine's list of the "Forty Greatest Players" placed him at #7, the highest-rated man behind only Pete Sampras and Bjorn Borg.

Still, even with all that, Connors is now maybe best remembered for the tournament he DIDN'T win than for all of them that he did. Of course, consuming the biggest event in the sport like no player ever did before or since has a tendency to be a visceral memory that shoves all the rest out of the picture... sort of like Connors might have tried to do with an opponent at his fiery best. By the time his final greatest role on the court was complete, the former brash renegade has become a carnival barker ("Step right up and see the most fan-tabulous spectacle in all of humanity right before your eyes...) who doubles as the main attraction that fans and on-lookers traveled from far and wide to see pull one more rabbit out of his hat before sunset (or sunrise, whichever came first).

It's sort of difficult to forget something like that.

Personally, I was too young to remember much detail about Borg's career other than the Swede's silent aura, and how McEnroe cracked it -- at least in Borg's mind -- of the course of two summers in 1980-81. Boris Becker was the player who made me love the sport, but it was a late-in-career (well, as it turned out, not REALLY late) Connors who was the first champion that I truly remember. His Wimbledon and U.S. Open title runs in the early 1980's were where I first saw all the flat groundstrokes, the lefty two-handed backhand and maybe the greatest return of serve in the sport's history. His famous steel Wilson T2000 racket was what I had in mind when I got my own first racket -- a steel Wilson Rebel that I cherished (and still own) because it looked like Connors' weapon of choice... or at least was close enough. I even had a bit of a temper back then, and have the one and only mangled racket of my "career" tucked away in a closet to prove it.

Hey, with Connors and McEnroe the American stars of the day, I guess I figured I was SUPPOSED to get supremely, destructively angry when a forehand shot hit the net. I've since learned otherwise.



Connors' role as the "People's Champion" in '91 was soaked with the subtext of what Jimbo had been over the previous twenty years. Raised in Belleville, Illinois by a mother and grandmother who'd decided to groom him to be a tennis star at an early age, "the one and only James Scott Connors" burst onto the tennis scene with an anti-establishment bent, making his U.S. Open debut at age 17 in 1970. He quickly made his way to the top, making enemies at every turn with vulgar on-court comments and squabbling with officials, opponents and fans along the path to greatness.

In 1974, Connors was banned from playing Roland Garros after he's broken the rules and agreed to play World Team Tennis. He became #1 that summer, and ended up winning the other three slams that season while compiling a 93-4 record. His personal rebellion against the ATP possibly cost him the best chance any man has had to sweep all four slams in a season since Rod Laver last did it in 1969. In the late 1970's, he was booed at Wimbledon. He even incurred a ten-week suspension and $20K fine after being defaulted from a match for being his regular belligerent on-court self.

But, by the late 1980's, he'd become a loved and respected elder of the sport, albeit one with a sly smile and the propensity to still occasionally say something that might cause a mother sitting in the front row to cover her child's ears for fear that the tyke might be forever corrupted. As things happened, John McEnroe had come along and "bad boy" Connors' antics had been made to look tame in comparison. Johnny Mac became "the brat" capable of being scolded for his disrespectful behavior by the "adult" Connors... as difficult as it would have been to imagine years earlier.

In the 1988 U.S. Open quarterfinals, Connors met an 18-year old "image is everything" superstar named Agassi, leading one voice in the crowd to shout out to Jimbo, "You're a legend and he's a punk." And no one disagreed. Agassi won the match in straight sets, and the rumor was that he'd bragged about how he was going to do it to the "old" Connors before the match. A year later, the two met again at the Open in a match that went the distance, with Agassi winning the first five-setter of his career.

In 1990, the 'new" Connors was cheered wildly at Wimbledon during his on-court warm-up on the first-ever middle Sunday play after a week that had seen the All-England Club grounds drenched with rain. With "the real people" being allowed to attend matches on that unique day, the roar of the fans cheering each pre-match shot that traveled over the net even made Jimbo himself laugh... and set the stage for the thrilling ride that would occur one season later.

In 1991, Connors was already two years past what would be his final pro title. Though he played fourteen events that season, and didn't effectively "retire" until 1993 (he actually played a match as late as 1996, and appeared in the ATP rankings at #1304 at age 44), he only made one more "victory lap" tour of three of the four grand slams in 1992, failing to win a match in Paris or London, but getting a 1st Round win at the Open as an encore to his performance the prior year.

He entered the Tennis Hall of Fame in 1998, but pretty much disappeared from the tennis scene after that. He re-emerged in 2006 and for nineteen months attempted to coach Andy Roddick back into contention with the likes of Federer and Rafael Nadal. It didn't work out, but it was great to have Connors' presence back in the game, even if it was for just a brief period.

"I want to bring the crowd into the match; in short, turn it into a football game."

It's not really a surprise that he couldn't mold Roddick into a modern day version of himself. The great ones with the untouchable heart for battle rarely are able to teach other athletes to emulate them. Actually, no player has been able to fully clear the crowd-thrilling, one-of-a-kind bar that Connors set in 1991 and throughout his career.

Aussie Lleyton Hewitt had the temperament, as well as the grinding game. He even seemed to be following in Connors' footsteps when he fell for and became engaged to "good girl" Kim Clijsters (just had been the case with Connors and "America's Sweetheart" Chris Evert), but Hewitt's standing has faded, he's yet to put together a late-career act of note and is having hip surgery. The demonstrative Hewitt never really had the the ability to laugh at himself and have "fun" on the court. With a stable family life and young child, though, maybe Hewitt WILL one day re-emerge in a different form... but without losing his trademark intensity that made him successful. It should be noted that the "veteran" Hewitt is still only 27, a full dozen years younger than Connors when he made his '91 run.

Actually, the closest performance that I've seen to what Connors did seventeen years ago might have been young Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's journey to the Australian Open final in January. The excitement the Muhammad Ali-resembling Frenchman brought to every match he played, the dynamic reactions to his accomplishments and the feeling that the fans were with him on every point were very Jimbo-esque. Of course, at just 22, Tsonga didn't have the backstory to go with what the American pulled off.

In the end, the last twenty years have only produced one player whose career/personal arc even remotely resembles that of Connors -- the "punk" of 1988 himself, Andre Agassi. Both went from rebels to revered elders over the course of two-decades long careers, going from a loud youngster whose antics some though brought disrepute to the game to aging vets who found a way to appeal to every fan on one level or another. In a sense, those two U.S. Open QF meetings in 1988-89 were like two nearly-identical ships passing in the night through some sci-fi rift in time. More than any other player since Connors, Agassi came to symbolize the entertaining spirit of the Open until he finally called it a career in 2006 (but not until after a run to the final a year before as an aching 35-year old that brought to mind Connors' trek fourteen years prior).

In the span of seventeen years, Connors' career came full circle that summer of '91. The same gritty 21-year old floppy-haired, loud-mouthed top player with an intense desire to destroy his opponent and buck whatever trend was at hand who smacked down a 39-year old Ken Rosewall in the Wimbledon and U.S. Open finals in 1974 had transformed into a gritty, shorter-haired, loud-mouthed aging star who'd grown out of his need to rebel against the world. Well, not REALLY... just by the time he was nearing the end the world was with him in the fight rather than on the other side of the net.

Even before 1991, Connors embodied the Open heart and soul. But those two weeks are what cemented his legacy in the mind of every tennis fan and non-fan alike who watched him play... and maybe even a few who didn't.

Connors, to the camera after another thrilling point that had brought the crowd to its feet -- (Shrugging his shoulders and holding up his hands, with a wry smile) "This is what they want."

Yes, it was... and still is.

All for now.



PREVIOUS TIME CAPSULES: 1987 Roland Garros (Graf), 1990 Wimbledon (Navratilova), 1990 Wimbledon (Edberg/Becker)

NEXT UP IN 2009: 1993 Australian Open - Monica Rules

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Horseshoes, Hand Grenades... and Roddick?

A day after top-seeded Rafael Nadal was tested by Sam Querrey, the tightrope walking became contagious on Ashe Stadium Court as in back-to-back matches both Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer's Open prospects seemed on the verge of going down in flames.

In the end, the person smiling the most might turn out to be Andy Roddick.

During the hot afternoon, #3-seed Djokovic followed up his 3rd Round match with Marin Cilic, in which the young Croat matched him shot for shot, by having to fight into a 5th set against #15 Tommy Robredo. Battling fatigue, illness and multiple injuries, Djokovic seemed to be channeling another chaotic Serb as he muddled through and found a way to advance by a score of 4-6/6-2/6-3/5-7/6-3 after 3:44 on the court. But the victory comes with a price, as it potentially leaves him as less a threat to win this tournament than he had been at the start of the day.

In the next match, #2-seed Roger Federer drifted from vulnerable to dominating and back again, then back the other way again during his own five-setter against Igor Andreev. Just when it looked as if he'd assert himself and take control of the match, he'd start making very un-Federer-like errors and Andreev would come storming back.

In the final set, Federer took a quick lead and it seemed as if he'd finally make quick work of the Russian. He ultimately won 6-7/7-6/6-3/3-6/6-3 in 3:32 to extend his U.S. Open winning streak to 31 matches, but he had to save four break points at 4-2 in the final set, aggressively rushing the net far more often than usual in order to fight his way out of the corner. The way Federer's play was bouncing off the walls, allowing the push-and-pull contest to get back on serve in the deciding stanza might have been the difference between winning and losing the entire match.

So it was all a case of close only counting in horseshoes and hand grenades for Robredo and Andreev.

By the time the dust had settled, all the dancing on the head of a pin hadn't actually resulted in any big upsets (#5 Nikolay Davydenko being ousted by Gilles Muller, the second qualifier to reach the QF in the Open Era, doesn't count), but it sure left a slew of limping, dragging and extremely questionable men still playing in the bottom half of the draw... along with Roddick.

With two back-to-back marathons, the day session lasted until nearly 8:30pm. Roddick took the court less than an hour later, and was off it in about 87 minutes after a thorough beating of Fernando Gonzalez in straight sets, 6-2/6-4/6-1.

After escaping his own tight predicament against Ernests Gulbis a few matches ago, Roddick has been nearly untouchable. He hasn't been pushed, and he's played mostly at night, out of the energy-sapping sun that nearly cut Djokovic down to size today. He'll face the Serb next, and he's surely the fresher of the two. If he wins there, he might get Federer in the SF. In the past, it'd be a fait accompli that Roddick would go down with only a modicum of fight. But no longer.

Roddick's already beaten Federer, or at least the aura-sapped, half-step slow being who's been going by that name ever since the real former #1 came down with mono at the start of the season, this year. And the inconsistency that Federer showed today surely leaves open the possibility that the Deposed King Roger might be ripe to be conquered yet again.

For maybe the first time in half a decade, Roddick, who looks to be getting better with each match in New York, might have timing and the luck of the draw on his side.

But does he remember how to take full advantage of it?





All for now.



TOMORROW: Backspin Time Capsule: 1991 U.S. Open

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