Roger Federer won his third consecutive US Open title last night, surviving a few scares to beat former champion Andy Roddick 6-2 4-6 7-5 6-1. Playing in his record sixth straight grand slam final, Federer performed below his best but still defeated the American for the 11th time in 12 career meetings.
"Winning three slams, it's unbelievable," the 25-year-old Swiss told reporters. "I played fantastic all the way through. I'm happy the Slams are over because it's hard work. It's a lot of pressure.
"I'm happy to kind of sit back a bit and relax."
With the sets level at 1-1 and Roddick serving at 5-6, Federer broke to close out the set amid a chorus of groans from the 24,000 spectators at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
"I was definitely under pressure in the third set," said Federer. "I felt like Andy was starting to play better, serve better. I had to wait for the moment when he had a game where he wasn't quite on."
Roddick said the third set was crucial.
"I felt like I had him a little bit off for a bit of that third set, and it could have gone either way," he said. "So maybe I was flirting with it for a little bit."
"The atmosphere was great. I was really enjoying competing. You want to be on that stage. At that point, it was a real battle."
Federer began to smell blood early in the fourth set and broke Roddick to grab a 2-0 lead. The Australian Open and Wimbledon champion recovered his form, and his confidence, before breaking Roddick again for a 4-0 lead.
When he closed out the match with an overhead, the normally staid Federer collapsed in ecstasy and lay on the court on his back. He won eight of the last nine games.
"I just felt like this is a great moment in my career. I deserved to lie down," Federer said. "Kind of give myself a break. I just thought lying down would be more comfortable."
Despite playing his best only in stretches, Federer finished the two-hour, 27-minute match with 69 winners and only 19 unforced errors. He also out-aced the hard-serving Roddick 17-7.
Roddick had 33 winners and 23 unforced errors but was let down by his inconsistency at the net.