Federer Force-Feeds Hewitt Two Bagels in US Open Final

Hewitt made few unforced errors through the first bagel set but still came up empty. The Aussie forced a tiebreak in the second but the Swiss was too good on the critical points, pulling the trigger for winners at will.

"When he's playing like he did, especially in the first set there today," Hewitt said. "There's very little you can do out there."

Entering the final, the numbers were on Federer's mind.

"Actually, honestly, going into this final," Federer said, "I had kind of a strange feeling. Because of all the talk -- nobody has ever won four in a row, the first (four) grand slams. So I started wondering. Now that I did it, it's great."

It was the first time Federer had surpassed the fourth round at the Open.

"It's still tough to believe, because I think once I settle down, have some time off, at the end of the year especially, I'll be looking back, thinking, 'How in the world did I do all this?'," Federer said. "I hope I can keep it up as long as I can. Once I get sick and tired of everything, you never know when that day will come. Obviously, I'm enjoying my life. Traveling the world, being No. 1 in the world in tennis is not too bad."

Standing between Federer and the greatest-ever title (besides 10 more slam titles)? Next up: a win at the French Open.

Kuznetsova Denied Doubles Double at US Open

Russian US Open singles winner Svetlana Kuznetsova was denied a double Sunday when she teamed with countrywoman Elena Likhovtseva as the No. 2 seeds in the US Open women's doubles final, losing to the top-seeded team of Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suarez 6-4, 7-5. It was the fifth title of the year for Ruano Pascual/Suarez.

It was also an amazing third US Open in a row for the Spanish/Argentine pair, and their third slam win of the year. The final was a repeat of the Australian Open and Roland Garros championship matches this year. Before losing in the semifinals at Wimbledon, Ruano Pascual and Suarez had reached the doubles final in nine consecutive slam events.

"When we started this tournament we said, 'OK, we have to win six matches to be in the final again,'" Suarez said. "I didn't believe we could be in the final again but we did it. It's amazing."

With five titles the pair trail only the Russian/American tandem of Nadia Petrova and Meghann Shaughnessy, who have six in 2004. It's the first time in the Open Era that a pair have won three straight women's doubles titles at the US Open.

ATP Previews

Follow the cash for the best post-US Open event of the three this week -- at Beijing where the China Open features three former No. 1s in Carlos Moya, Juan Carlos Ferrrero, and Marat "Take the Money and Run" Safin. Also among the seeds are David Nalbandian, Rainer "Shine" Schuettler, crowd-favorite Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan, Taylor Dent, and Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty.

The event has not been on the ATP calendar since 1997, when Jim Courier won the singles and Indians Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes were still talking to each other, capturing the doubles. The event was first held in 1993, with Michael Chang winning from 1993-95, and "Grinning" Greg Rusedski the title winner in 1996.

On court Monday are Nieminen vs. Garcia-Lopez, (4) Schuettler vs. Baccanello, and Lu vs. (WC)Zhu.

The event in Delray Beach this week could be a wash, literally, with the approach of Hurricane Ivan. The eight seeds are Vince Spadea, Mardy "Silver" Fish, Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic, Xavier "X-Man" Malisse, "Dr." Ivo Karlovic, France's Cyril Saulnier, Max "The Beast" Mirnyi, and Radek Stepanek.

First round matches of interest are the (4) X-Man vs. "Grinning" Greg Rusedski, (5) Dr. Ivo vs. big-match player Paul Goldstein of the U.S., and (3) Baby Goran vs. defending champ Jan-Mike Gambill. Gambill (2003,'01) is the lone returning champ in the field. On court Monday are Gambill vs. (3) Baby Goran, (4) X-Man vs. Grinning Greg, Golmard vs. D.Norman, Goldstein vs. (5) Dr. Ivo, and (6) Saulnier vs. Carlsen.

The dirt-ballers return to the clay this week at Bucharest, where Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco, Florian "Oscar" Mayer, Al Costa, Igor Andreev, Nikolay Davydenko, David Ferrer, Filippo Volandri, and David Sanchez are the top seeds. Tough first-round matches include (3) A.Costa vs. Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu, (8) Sanchez vs. "Everybody Loves" Raemon Sluiter, and (5) Davydenko vs. Spanish grinder Felix Mantilla.

Other draw notables are "You Say" Potito Starace, former No. 2 Alex Corretja, Argentine comer Juan "The Principality" Monaco, and Arnaud Clement. Returning champs in the field are Sanchez (2003) and Ferrer (2002). On court Monday are (3) Gasquet vs. Apostu-Efremov, (3) A.Costa vs. Mathieu, Corretja vs. O.Hernandez in an all-Spanish, "Everybody Loves" Raemon Sluiter vs. (8) Sanchez, (5) Davydenko vs. Mantilla, Vliegen vs. (4) Andreev, and Di Pasquale vs. Elsner.

WTA Preview

This week's lone WTA event in Bali, Indonesia, the unfortunately-named Wismilak International, pulls in two slam winners in top-seeded French Open winner Anastasia Myskina, and US Open champ Svetlana Kuznetsova. Also on the agenda was US Open runner-up and defending champion Elena Dementieva, who pulled a couple days ago citing fatigue. The pull was not a great situation for the event, which had already invested considerable advertising dollars behind the Russian Barbie.

Also among the top seeds are Japan's Ai Sugiyama, Russian Nadia Petrova, last year's runner-up American Chanda Rubin, Venezuela's Maria Vento-Kabchi, Argentina's Gisela "Sgt." Dulko, and Serb Jelena Jankovic. A couple first-round matches of interest, with (5) Rubin vs. Italian comer Tathiana Garbin, (8) Jankovic vs. former winner Angelique Widjaja, and (4) Petrova vs. Japan's Akiko Morigami.

Myskina says she is unfazed by last Thursday's terrorist attack which left nine dead outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta. "Worse things happened in other parts of the world, also in Russia," said Myskina, playing the tough-broad card. If you've ever seen Myskina screaming at her coach on court, you get the feeling she could beat you to death with a racquet handle if you looked at her sideways.

In doubles Kuznetsova will re-team with partner Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, who is still be hanging around after saying she was only returning to the court for the Athens Olympics. In last year's final, the No. 2-seeded Dementieva spanked the top-seeded Rubin 6-2, 6-1. Former champs in the field are Kuznetsova (2002) and Widjaja (2001).

On court Monday in Bali are Brandi vs. Obata, Damayanti vs. Dulko, Marrero vs. Craybas, and Pisnik vs. Camerin.

X-READER CORRECTIONS
Rather than being "nonplussed" (dumbfounded) by the Tim Henman attacking game, we meant to say Roger Federer was "non-nonplussed," which is an even better word (thanks JW).

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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
The US Open final featuring Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt was the first meeting of multiple slam winners at the US Open since Pete Sampras-Andre Agassi...Svetlana Kuznetsova rises to a career-high No. 6 on the WTA Rankings...Joachim "Pim-Pim" Johansson after losing to Lleyton Hewitt: "If I could come into the net when I got some chances instead of staying back...But today my tactic was staying back and trying to outhit him from the baseline. I think if I could improve that game, I would raise my level a little bit more."...Tim Henman's pick before the final was Roger Federer: "It starts with his serve. I think it's so deceptive that he doesn't really serve particularly quickly in terms of miles per hour, but his variation, his placement is as good as any. You feel like you're just trying to get the ball back. And you put the ball back on the court and he's ready to start running you ragged with his forehand, which is so heavy. He's setting the standards for everyone right now. Lots of people just trying to catch up."...Roger Federer does not want to change a winning game. What would he improve?: "Well, right now there's not too much, you know (smiling). It's been working fine for me, the way I'm playing. Maybe if I improve on a thing, my whole game might change. Then it's not the same anymore."...CBS's Dick Enberg, you'd better hope the network execs don't read the Tennis-X discussion boards, you are getting flayed. Time to ease into tennis commentary retirement...How good a sport is Andy Roddick for filming the version of the American Express commercial when/if he loses at the Open? Funny stuff...Lleyton Hewitt had not beaten anyone inside the Top 20 on the ATP Rankings during his U.S. summer win streak...Lleyton Hewitt was the first man to reach the US Open without dropping a set in almost 15 years, since Jim Courier in 1991...Three US Open "gold badge" chair umpires were dismissed early from the tournament because of their involvement in a credential-forging scheme at the Athens Olympics, multiple sources told the New York Daily News on Saturday. And the early departures may have been one reason why Mariana Alves -- a lower-ranked, or "silver badge" official -- was assigned to the controversial Serena Williams-Jennifer Capriati quarterfinal...Pete Sampras has sold his Benedict Canyon home for $3 million, according to public records. In August 2003 the home was listed at $3.75 million. Pete had owned the house since 1998, two years before he married Bridgette Wilson...Wasn't USTA President Alan Schwartz a little scary with the mic in the post-match trophy presentations at the US Open? From blowing Svetlana Kuznetsova's name to giving stumbling commentaries on the matches during the trophy presentations, it's kind of like watching a car crash in slow motion. You know it's going to happen and there's nothing you can do about it. Let's keep the front-office suits in their luxury boxes and off the courts...In the locker room after the US Open win, Roger Federer spoke on the phone with Mats Wilander, the last man to win three slam titles in one year (1988)...Extra funk to Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suarez, who have won three US Opens in a row, and 10 of the last 11 slam finals...After Svetlana Kuznetsova won the US Open title, and after doing her media, she hit the practice court: "After the match, you have to clean up your game. It doesn't matter if you win the title."...Margaret Court says players of her era would have been able to compete with today's players with the same super-technology: "I was probably the first woman to lift weights and do circuit training and to run the sand hills. Jack (Kramer) and I were saying earlier how beautiful the equipment is today. You just get such wonderful touch with it. I think if you'd like to put them out on a court with the rackets that we used, I think many of us would have fit into this time very well."...Is Amelie Mauresmo the best player in the world? Discuss. Charlie "Brick" Bricker of the South Florida Sun Sentinel weighs in: "You have a sense with (Kim) Clijsters, who has lost the year to wrist surgery, that she will one day win a Slam. She is, after all, only 23. You don't get that feeling with (Amelie) Mauresmo, who has shown time after time she doesn't have the goods to beat the best and, with the rise of the Russians, it will only get harder."...Sjeng Schalken has been suffering from glandular fever (infectious mononucleosis) since the Davis Cup tie against Canada. Repeated blood tests failed to detect the viral infection, so Schalken continued to play despite the constant fatigue. "I am happy they finally found the reason why I didn't recover and why I was slow on the court," Schalken said. "They recently found antibodies to the sickness of glandular fever. Hopefully I will be back in full fitness for 2005, but I have been advised by doctors to cut my schedule for the rest of the season."...Lleyton Hewitt has moved to No. 3, Tim Henman to No. 4, and Joachim "Pim-Pim" Johansson to No. 16 on the ATP Rankings after the US Open. No. 1 Roger Federer now has almost twice the rankings points as No. 2 Andy Roddick.