Federer heads into U.S. Open with momentum

NEW YORK - Even Roger Federer finds it all a little surprising.

After going 4½ years without collecting a major championship, now firmly in his mid-30s, he heads into Monday’s start of the U.S. Open with a chance to win his third such trophy of 2017.

“I mean, I have a hard time thinking I could win three Slams in one year. It just sounds totally surreal to me,” Federer said. “But I’ll prepare myself the best way possible, so that I will have the best chance to really excel there in New York.”

Yes, Federer is most certainly back. All the way back. He’s back in the field at Flushing Meadows after sitting out the hard-court tournament a year ago while taking off the last half of the season to let his surgically repaired left knee heal. And he’s back in the role of Grand Slam title favorite after winning the past two majors he entered, the Australian Open in January and Wimbledon in July.

Is he playing as well as — or perhaps better than — ever?

“I don’t know. It’s hard to tell. It doesn’t really matter to me. I would hope that I’m a better player today, just (by) virtue of time that’s gone by and I’ve had time to practice and train and all that stuff,” he said with a sigh. “But better? In a way I would hope so.”

Federer turned 36 on Aug. 8, making him older than all but two men to have ever won the most important tennis tournament held in the United States, an event first held in 1881.

He will be facing a depleted draw in New York as he seeks his first title there in nearly a decade .

Three-time major champion Andy Murray, recently replaced at No. 1 by Rafael Nadal, withdrew Saturday. Reigning U.S. Open champion Stan Wawrinka, who had knee surgery, and 2016 runner-up Novak Djokovic, whose right elbow is injured, are out for the rest of the season. So is 2014 runner-up Kei Nishikori, because of a hurt wrist. Last year’s Wimbledon runner-up, Milos Raonic, withdrew from the U.S. Open because of an injured left wrist.

Wawrinka, Djokovic and Nishikori are following Federer’s example — and Murray said he will consider doing the same. Skipping the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, the U.S. Open and other tournaments allowed Federer to return to the ATP Tour refreshed and reinvigorated, not to mention fully fit.

The payoff? He is 35-3 with five titles this season.

“The long break last year really helped him. He (went) a little bit away and looked at everything from the outside again. It gives you a little bit of distance,” said Severin Luthi, one of Federer’s coaches. “In general, I know with him that if he takes a break and if he’s fresh, happy to play, motivated ... that’s one of his biggest strengths.”

The day before claiming his eighth Wimbledon championship and 19th at a major overall — both records for a man — Federer sat down with Luthi to discuss preparation for the U.S. Open.

Yes, time marches on, even for Federer, although it doesn’t really seem as if that’s the case at the moment.

Murray out: Murray surprisingly withdrew because of a hip injury.

“Did pretty much everything that I could to get myself ready here and took a number of weeks off after Wimbledon. I obviously spoke to a lot of hip specialists. Tried obviously resting, rehabbing, to try and get myself ready here,” said Murray, who won the 2012 U.S. Open for the first of his three major championships.

“Was actually practicing OK the last few days,” he said, “but it’s too sore for me to win the tournament. And ultimately, that’s what I was here to try and do.”

Murray, who yielded the No. 1 ranking to Rafael Nadal this week, has not played a match since July 12 at Wimbledon, where he was the defending champion and clearly was hampered by his hip during a five-set quarterfinal loss to Sam Querrey.

The 30-year-old from Britain revealed during a news conference at the U.S. Open site Saturday that the hip first bothered him during his semifinal loss to Wawrinka at the French Open in June.

Murray said he will decide in the “next couple of days” whether to end his season.

Tim Smyczek of Milwaukee will face Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany in a men’s firstround match.