Roger Federer flew out of Cincinnati on a private jet after a rare tournament week without his young family at his side, with the Swiss re-united with his wife and two daughters after winning his second trophy of the season at the weekend.The world's No. 2 player firmly re-established himself as a firm title contender for the U.S. Open when competition begins in a week at the last Grand Slam of the season.
Federer earned his fourth Cincinnati Masters title with a 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-1), 6-4 comeback defeat of Mardy Fish Sunday, his sixth win from seven meetings with the American.
During his winning week on cement in the Midwest, wife Mirka and the couple's infant twin daughters were elsewhere, with dad meeting them again late Sunday after his 63rd career title performance from 90 ATP finals.
This build-up week at Flushing Meadows should be comfortable for the Swiss, who comes off a fortnight of success with a Toronto final against Andy Murray to start his summer hardcourt campaign.
Title favorites for the Open remain the same old names.
"I guess top four have the best shot again, naturally," said 16- time Grand Slam champion Federer who missed a fifth final a year ago when he lost a fifth set to Argentine Juan Del Potro. "We can all play really well on the hardcourts.
"Murray has proven himself, so has (Novak) Djokovic on the hardcourts and so has Rafa (Nadal).
"Maybe U.S. Open is a bit faster, so you figure Rafa will struggle a bit more. But if the draw goes his way, he'll be in the finals and have a crack at the title, too. He knows how to win slams. He's won all the other ones."
Federer called the upcoming major "interesting."
"Many guys are playing well again. Murray had not won a tournament for a long time (he lost to Federer in Australia last January) and he was been able to win Toronto again. That definitely puts him as one of the favorites as well."
The Swiss is keeping his short-list for Open success short for a reason -- the level of competition is huge among the elite on the men's side.
"You see how hard it is today to win slams and tournaments. There are many good players around and many dangerous floaters in the draws. It's hard to win them all."
Federer will be seeded second at Flushing Meadows behind Nadal, and could meet his Spanish rival in a dream final in three weeks.
