Strokes of genius

NEW YORK – This U.S. Open was all about the greats of the game, from Andre Agassi’s tearful farewell, to the renaming of the site to honor Billie Jean King, to Martina Navratilova’s this-time-she-means-it retirement.

It was only fitting, then, that the tournament’s final point was won by Roger Federer.

After all, by beating Andy Roddick 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 Sunday for a third consecutive championship at Flushing Meadows, Federer took another step toward being regarded as the best tennis player in history.

With his new pal Tiger Woods sitting in the front row, Federer won his third Grand Slam title of the year and the ninth of his career, moving closer to Pete Sampras’ record of 14. After the match, Federer and Woods cracked open two bottles of Dom Perignon in the locker room.

“I’m shocked myself how well it’s been going the last three, four years,” Federer said, “being not only compared to former great tennis players, but now especially also other great athletes all over sports. It’s just really nice.”

If there’s any athlete in the world who knows exactly how Federer feels as he dominates his peers and gobbles up Grand Slams, it’s Woods. They met for the first time before the match, and Federer then set out to impress his counterpart. Federer out-aced the big-serving Roddick 17-7, compiled a 69-33 edge in winners, and made only 19 unforced errors.

“When I go out there and I see Tiger sitting there, it’s like, I try to play well, you know? I try to kind of get my act together and focus and get off to a good start,” Federer said.

And he did precisely that, racing to a 5-0 lead in 17 minutes. He finished strong, too, winning eight of the last nine games against Roddick, who won the 2003 U.S. Open but now is 1-11 against the man he once was supposed to rival for supremacy in this sport.

“Roger is at the top, and he’s the only person at the top, regardless of how much people want to make rivalry comparisons and this, that and the other,” Roddick said. “He’s the best player in the game. There’s no question in my mind.”

The No. 1-ranked Federer went 27-1 at this year’s Grand Slam tournaments, the only setback coming against Rafael Nadal in the French Open final. Federer became the first man since Ivan Lendl in 1985-87 to win three consecutive U.S. Open titles – and the only man in tennis history to win Wimbledon and the U.S. Open back-to-back three years in a row.

He’s won nine of the last 14 Grand Slam tournaments, dating to Wimbledon in 2004.