Five-time champion Roger Federer begins his assault on another US Open title next week.
Federer is still smarting from missed opportunities to add to his tally over the past couple of years. The Swiss won five consecutive titles between 2004 and 2008 but his reign was ended in dramatic fashion a couple of years ago as Juan Martin Del Potro hit back from two sets to one down to win in five, a loss Federer still struggles to come to terms with.
Then last year saw another epic defeat, a five set semi-final loss to bitter rival Novak Djokovic. Federer held match points but Djokovic summoned up some of the finest crunch tennis of his life to set up a final with Rafa Nadal.
It's hard to assess Federer's chances this year as he has not won a title since Doha in the first week of the year and has rarely looked in contention to win the big events. He didn't get past the quarters in either Montreal or Cincinnati but you'd still be a fool to write him off as he showed at the French Open, turning on his best form that fortnight and perhaps coming the closest he ever has to beating Nadal at Roland Garros.
Federer has steered clear of some of the most dangerous floaters in the opening couple of rounds, beginning against Columbian clay-courter Santiago Giraldo.
The interesting tests could await in the last 32 as he's seeded to face Marin Cilic, the big Croatian who's sort of lost his way in the past two years. Cilic has an abundance of talent and made the Aussie Open semis in 2010 but it's no given that he will even get as far as round three as two of the game's best teenage prospects await him in the opening rounds.
Cilic starts against the in-form Ryan Harrison and if he gets through that he'll probably be up against Bernard Tomic, the Aussie wonder-kid who became the youngest player to make the Wimbledon quarters since Boris Becker in July.
I expect Federer to make the quarters but then he could be up against major bogeyman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or the US Open Series champion Mardy Fish who's desperate for his first major breakthrough at the age of 29.
