The Fed Express worries about young guns

　　August 26, 2007

　　Special to PA SportsTicker

　　FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) - Roger Federer believes he has a fight on his hands from a new generation of stars if he is to claim a fourth U.S. Open title in a row.

　　World No. 1 Federer gets his title defense underway after being drawn to face qualifiers in the first two rounds. American Scoville Jenkins is first up for the Swiss master.

　　But with No. 13 seed Richard Gasquet a potential fourth-round opponent - and in the wake of his defeat to third seed Novak Djokovic in Montreal earlier this month - Federer is aware of the dangers waiting down the line.

　　"The new generation has announced itself in the last year," Federer said. "One year ago, they were still very young. But they're all very good. You could definitely tell one was going to make the breakthrough soon.

　　"It was Djokovic who did it first, even though it looked like (Andy) Murray was going to do it ahead of him. He (Murray) had problems with his injuries. Who knows what he could have done at the French Open and Wimbledon."

　　Federer added: "Gasquet has been able to make a breakthrough as well, making the semifinals at Wimbledon. You've also got Tomas Berdych, Marcos Baghdatis, all these other guys who can make the big breakthrough as well.

　　"It's definitely the young guys who are pushing through. Slowly but surely they're also getting ready to win big tournaments, like Djokovic, who has been able to win a couple of Masters Series this year. It's going to be interesting to see how well they can do at the grand slams."

　　Of all the young pretenders, Federer, who completed a fifth straight victory at Wimbledon earlier this summer, said two 20-year-olds, British No. 1 Murray and Serbian Djokovic had the best chance of glory.

　　"At the moment, you would have to probably say Djokovic and Murray. At the same time I like Gasquet's game better than those. Berdych has a huge game. Baghdatis announced himself already a couple years ago with the finals at the Australian Open.

　　"Then there's other guys like (Juan Martin) Del Potro, who is going to come through. There's going to be a few very soon, a lot of them in the top 10."

　　Federer explained why he did not include world No. 2 Rafael Nadal in that list.

　　"He's already been up there too long! He's a veteran."

　　Federer's defeat to Djokovic at the ATP Masters event in Montreal sent shockwaves through tennis.

　　The Serb had already beaten Andy Roddick and Nadal in the preceding rounds.

　　But Federer bounced back in emphatic style by taking the next event in Cincinnati for the 50th title of his career.

　　"It's good when you lose and you play right away again," the Swiss star said. "It's harder if you lose and let's say you wouldn't play for a month. You think for one month, that one match. The match I played wasn't too bad. I played a great week in general and didn't lose a set until the final.

　　"I was quite happy with my form. Then again, I got into Cincinnati worried about my up-and-down results over there. I didn't know really how it was going to be. In the end, I really played my best on the final day. That's how I won so many of my 50 titles, playing my best in the final. Now I'm in great shape. Hopefully I can repeat the win here at the U.S. Open."