Upsets and unexpected story lines aside at the U.S. Open, the substantial presence of established stars such as Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal notwithstanding, there is no getting away from the Roger Federer footprint, no avoiding talk of Federer's ever-expanding portfolio.
Federer's eventual dismissal of Sweden's Robin Soderling - tricky winds aside - from last night's quarterfinal, 6-0, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (6), turned dramatically competitive late but was a good enough exhibit for a small place in the Federer hall of masterpieces. It was Federer's 12th-straight victory over the 12th-seeded Soderling.
Another title in Flushing Meadows would make Federer the first man since Bill Tilden in 1925 to win six straight U.S. titles, a comparison Federer called "fantastic" even as he reminded that he never saw Tilden - Tilden died 28 years before Federer was born - "so it's hard for me to say about that, really."
The math of Federer's career is increasingly staggering. A 187-26 match record in Grand Slam events, a record 15 major-tournament titles, 22 straight trips to a Grand Slam semifinal. Even his 7-13 record against his most impressive peer, Nadal, doesn't blunt talk that Federer could be the best ever to play his sport. Or, at the very least, that Federer brought his game to such a high polish that it demanded a loftier level from Nadal.
"I think this stuff you can talk about when my career is over, really," Federer said. "This is when you analyze, OK, how much did Rafa Nadal help my career and how much did I help his career? I don't know. I can't answer this."
But there is no avoiding that Federer, as a measuring stick, is a constant:
"I don't think," No. 4 Novak Djokovic said, "that you can always - you can ever - get your game to the perfection, you know. Only if you're Federer."
Watching Federer equal his accomplishment of a career Grand Slam by finally winning the French Open this spring, Andre Agassi declared "it would have been a crime had he not ever won in Paris. He's been the second best clay courter for five years running. He should have won four or five French Opens if it wasn't for one sort of freakish kid from Mallorca. He would have possibly won two Grand Slams - all four in the same year, two years in a row.
"What he's done in separating himself from the game he should be recognized, and the problem is, it wasn't being recognized if he didn't win Paris. I thought, once he did, the discussion's over with. For him just to remove that, as some sort of possible thorn, I think is right."
