By Xinhua
New York : World’s number one tennis player Roger Federer of Switzerland won his 12th Grand Slam event here by taking out Serbia’s Novak Djokovic 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-2) and 6-4 in the men’s single final of the 2007 US Open.
With his victory over Djokovic, Federer became the first man in the Open Era to capture four consecutive US Open singles titles, and the first man in history to do so since Bill Tilden accomplished the monumental feat between 1920 and 1923.
Top seed Federer is in second place among Open Era Grand Slam leaders, tied with Roy Emerson two behind the leader Pete Sampras, who won a total of 14 singles titles in Grand Slam events.
“I think about it a lot now. To come so close at my age is fantastic, and I hope to break it,” said Federer.
Asked how many can he win, he said: “I don’t know. I hope more than Pete.”
The Swiss superstar actually began rewriting history with his semi-final win over Russian Nikolay Davydenko, extending his own record of most consecutive Grand Slam event finals to 10. He is also the first man to reach the finals of all four Grand Slam events in a calendar year two years in a row.
The 20-year-old Djokovic, playing his first Grand Slam event final, wasted a total of seven set points in the opening two sets when he led at 6-5. Five set points came in the opening set itself and two more in the second as both sets went into tiebreaks, duly won by the world number one Federer.
“He knows what it feels like to be in that kind of situation. He knows how to cope with the pressure,” said Djokovic, “For me, this is something new.”
Djokovic had one last chance to come back, getting to love-40 when his rival served at 2-2 in the third set. But the Swiss took five points in a row, as the Serbian seventh seed could convert only two of the nine break opportunities he held.
“I have to look positive. Next time I hope I’m going to hold that trophy,” said Djokovic.
Having come into the US Open with another splendid performance in the hard court series, Federer takes home a million dollar bonus, which brings his total prize money for the championship run to $2.4 million, the largest payout in the history of the sport.