US Open: A look at Roger Federer's dominance in New York

The fact that Roger Federer has reached the absolute pinnacle of men’s tennis is common knowledge. He is arguably the greatest men’s tennis player of all time, and has a bevy of records to his name. In his stellar career so far, the Swiss maestro has won 17 Grand Slam titles, a feat that doesn't look like it’s going to be broken anytime soon(with Nadal not being able to play his best currently), and with the exception of an Olympic singles gold, has won just about everything there is to win.Having stayed as the World No.1 for a massive 302 weeks, Federer also holds the record for having won the most number of US Opens consecutively (5) from 2004 to 2008.In this slideshow, we look at each of his 5 victories.

#1 2004

Federer with the 2004 US Open trophy

In the 2004 US Open final, Federer absolutely devastated Lleyton Hewitt’s 16-match winning streak with a scoreline that read 6-0, 7-6 (7-3), 6-0. Hewitt had not dropped a single set en route to the final, and that was quickly overturned and bamboozled by Federer's magnificent play.

By winning in New York that year, Federer became the first man in history to win his first four Grand Slam finals, and was also the first since Mats Wilander in 1988 to win 3 Majors in a year, after his victories at Australia and Wimbledon. This was the fourth Grand Slam of his career.

#2 2005

Federer kisses the 2005 US Open trophy

For his second US Open title, Federer had to beat home favourite Andre Agassi to win the sixth Grand Slam title of his career. The scoreline read 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-1. With a break down in the third set, it looked troublesome for Federer, but he held his calm, as we have seen him do so often, and broke back immediately.

He reserved his best tennis for the tie-break and won comfortably seven points to one, before playing even better to win the fourth set and the match. At 35 years of age, Agassi was the oldest finalist since a 39-year-old Ken Rosewall lost to Jimmy Connors in 1974.

#3 2006

Federer with the 2006 US Open trophy

Federer beat another home favourite in Andy Roddick to win his third US Open in three years. The American played well against Federer, but had to succumb to the Swiss maestro’s brilliance in 4 sets, with a score of 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.

After winning one set each, both players had many chances to break in the third set, but neither could convert until Federer managed to break the stranglehold in the 12th game to win it.

After that,there was just no stopping him, and he wrapped the final set to win his ninth Grand Slam title. By doing so, he had overtaken the likes of Andre Agassi and Fred Perry in the all-time list of Grand Slam winners.

Federer also became the first man in the Open era to win three successive US Open and Wimbledon titles in the same years.

#4 2007

Absolutely ecstatic after winning in 2007

In 2007, Federer beat current World No.1 Novak Djokovic in the final, with a tough 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 victory against the Serb. Djokovic missed many opportunities during the match, including a total of 7 set points in his first Grand Slam final, which proved that he still wasn’t ready for the big stage, with Federer capitalising on each of his mistakes to win his fourth US Open.

Federer started off in a nervy manner, and was broken in the 11th game, with Djokovic going 40-0 up at 6-5 only to see Federer claw back to force the set into a tie-break which he then won.

Although Djokovic was the first to break in the second set as well, he never really found his rhythm in the match, and Federer went on to win the 12th Grand Slam of his career.

#5 2008

Federer with the 2008 US Open trophy

A 21-year-old Andy Murray was completely outclassed in the 2008 final, and the former’s dreams of winning his first Grand Slam in New York were destroyed by the Swiss who seemed to be in a league of his own. In just 1 hour and 51 minutes, Roger had thwarted Murray 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 to hold the record for the most number of US Opens won consecutively in the Open Era.

Having lost the World No.1 ranking to Rafael Nadal, and being bereft of any Grand Slam in 2008, Roger produced a beautiful performance to stop his downward slide. With his 13th Grand Slam win, Federer was just one Major behind then record-holder Pete Sampras, and also became the first man to win 5 consecutive titles at two Grand Slam events, having also achieved the feat at Wimbledon from 2003 to 2007.