The stars are aligning in a way that suggests that Roger Federer will put a potential capstone on his extraordinary career in some 20 days with a triumph at the U.S. Open. Make what you want of the theory. Dismiss it as outlandish. Call it insulting to his fellow contenders. Characterize it as the delusion of an undeclared Federer partisan. It’s okay by me and irrelevant to the topic anyway.
The topic being the fact that Federer is going to win his 18th Grand Slam title at Flushing Meadows, and there isn’t a danged thing the haters or his rivals can do about it. If it’s any consolation, just think how good you’ll feel if I’m wrong about this, and you thereby earn the right to puff up your chest and squawk like a rooster.
[For all of our U.S. Open picks, including dark horses and upset specials, click here.]
The funny thing is, I don’t even like making predictions. I’ve said it before: I’m interested in seeing and understanding what happens, not predicting it. But this time around, the case is just too compelling. And wouldn’t it be just terrific if a player who’s been an absolute paragon in this game fired at least one more majestic salvo?
Federer has come close, but he’s won just one Grand Slam title since the spring of 2010, that one in the summer of 2012. In the interim, he’s always been in the hunt—most recently a few weeks ago at Wimbledon, where he lost a close final to a younger, higher-ranked man in deep need of a win, Novak Djokovic. More important, Federer been competitive at almost every major, a quarterfinalist or better at 15 of the 18 majors since he won the 2010 Australian Open.
So Federer has been biding his time, awaiting his opportunity, keeping the faith. He’s seen Djokovic go soft again, and Rafael Nadal drop out. And now?
“I could have just not played here and gone into the Open feeling good about my chances,” Federer remarked after he backed up his runner-up finish in Toronto with a win in Cincinnati. “Now I feel even better, you know.
