Federer To Attempt to Extend History at U.S. Open

Roger Federer and Dinara Safina were announced by the U.S. Tennis Association as the No. 1 seeds for the Men's Singles and Women's Singles tournaments, respectively, at the U.S. Open. 

The seeding is in line with the ATP and WTA rankings, the latter coming under heavy scrutiny for marginalizing the importance of some of the year's biggest tournaments regarding the overall rankings.  Safina, the women's No. 1 according to the WTA, has lost all three Grand Slam finals in her career.  Serena Williams, however, is seeded 2nd and has won two Grand Slam finals this year alone (this year's Wimbledon, where she defeated her sister Venus, and this year's Australian Open, where she defeated Safina).  U.S. Open Tournament Director Jim Curley stated that although "The U.S. Open has the prerogative of altering its seedings", the discussions "never got to the point where we were seriously intending not to follow the rankings."  Ms. Williams put it best after her victory at Wimbledon:  "I'd rather definitely be number two and hold three Grand Slams in the past year than be number one and not have any."

Federer, on the other hand, has been on a warpath; his Napoleonic return and subsequent conquest of the tennis world has been nothing short of historic.  He completed a career Grand Slam by winning the French Open in June, tied Pete Sampras' record of 14 Men's Single Grand Slam Titles and subsequently shattered the mark at the All-England Club last month with his 15th Grand Slam victory at Wimbledon. 

However, it is at the U. S. Open where rumors are surfacing that the Swiss Maestro may meet his Waterloo-- Rafael Nadal has returned, in what some analysts presume might be the peak physical condition of his career.  Nadal is seeded 3rd behind Andy Murray, but it is perceived as almost inevitable that Federer and Nadal will eventually meet.

To put things into perspective, however, Federer is chasing his sixth consecutive U.S. Open title-- unprecedented in the Open Era, where Federer, amongst a vast array of Open Era Tennis records, stands alone.