As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the US Open, we look back at the 50 champions who have left an indelible mark on this inimitable event.
In 2004, Roger Federer was not yet the greatest player of all time, a living legend, an icon or one of the most famous athletes in the world. He was a burgeoning star just beginning to realize his immense gifts, on the cusp of a true breakthrough season but with one obstacle remaining: the US Open.
Federer, long hailed as tennis’ next big thing, had broken through with a victory at Wimbledon in 2003. But he failed to back it up later that summer, losing in the round of 16 in Flushing Meadows for the third consecutive year.
The 2004 season had a different feel, however. Federer won the Australian Open for the first time, added a second Wimbledon title and came to New York vying to become the first man to win three Slams in a single season since Mats Wilander in 1988 and the first to sweep Wimbledon and the US Open in the same year since Pete Sampras in 1995.
In Flushing Meadows, Federer delivered, his mix of brilliance and resolve at that year’s Open providing a preview of what would make him an otherworldly champion in the years that followed. He was in turns sublime – as witnessed in his incredibly fun, straight-sets victory over Fabrice Santoro in the third round and his demolition of former winner Lleyton Hewitt in the final – and gutty – surviving a whipping wind and a partisan crowd to outlast Andre Agassi in a five-set quarterfinal.
At the end of it all, a ponytailed, youthful Federer lifted the men’s singles trophy for the first time, beginning an unmatched run of dominance and kindling a love affair between player, city and fans.
The Swiss would go on to win the next five consecutive US Open titles – a feat unmatched by any player in the Open era and the longest run for any man since Bill Tilden won six in a row from 1920 to 1925. During that time, Federer would come to embrace the fashion and celebrity of New York, donning different kits for day and night matches, hosting Vogue’s Anna Wintour in his player box and generally embracing the city as it embraced him. And he went from revered to beloved, with his graceful play and classic style standing as a welcomed anachronism in an era of brute force and dayglow colors.
RELATED: All 14 active US Open champions to compete in 2018
And so the scene would be replayed again and again, with victories over some of this generation’s elite talents – Hewitt in 2004, Agassi in 2005, Andy Roddick in 2006, Novak Djokovic in 2007 and Andy Murray in 2008, all current or future Hall of Famers. It came to be that Federer was deemed unbeatable, which made his five-set loss to Juan Martin del Potro in the 2009 final – in which Federer led two sets to one and had opportunities in the fourth-set tiebreak – all the more stunning.
In the ensuring years, however, Federer’s New York star has not dimmed. And he has remained a contender. He lost five-set semifinals to Djokovic in 2010 and 2011, fell again in the semis in 2014 and in the final in 2015, and was the favorite heading into the 2017 event before getting dinged by an in-form del Potro in the quarterfinals.
In 2018, Federer will arrive for the US Open main draw for the 18th time, a mark achieved by precious few before him. But Federer will not be here for a ceremonial ride, soaking in the adulation of the crowd and hoping to win a few rounds to extend his stay. Rather, he will come hunting a title – a record sixth US Open crown and a record-extending and mind-bending 21st Grand Slam singles championship, playing under the blitzkrieg lights that have shined on him for a decade and a half, the finest men’s player of all time plying his craft on the greatest stage in Grand Slam tennis.
50 Fact: Federer’s 82 singles victories at the US Open are second all-time, trailing only Jimmy Connors’ 98, and if he reaches the quarterfinals at this year’s event, he will surpass Agassi for the second-most men’s singles matches played at the Open in the Open era, also trailing Connors. And should he win the title, he would equal Ken Rosewall (1956, 1970) for the greatest number of years between first and last titles, at 14.\
RELATED: 50 for 50: Rafael Nadal, 2010, 2013 and 2017 US Open champion
