Bud Collins

A quarter-century has passed since the most recent guy to have a chance at winning a fourth straight U.S. Open, and 83 years since it actually happened: Big Bill Tilden the conqueror in 1923.

John McEnroe faltered in 1982 (a semifinal loss to Ivan Lendl), but Tilden continued on a six-year run through 1925.

Now it's Roger Federer, the 2004-05-06 champion, riding a 20-match win streak at Flushing with about as much end in sight as the Iraq occupation. Do you see anybody beating him at the Open this time around? I don't.

It's Djokovic for Federer's final test
Come the final Federer will have a different fish at the end of the line: the Surging Serb, third-seeded Novak Djokovic, following up on the Swiss master's last three victims on the second Sunday of the New York fortnight: Lleyton Hewitt, Andre Agassi, and Andy Roddick.

Djokovic has shown the ability to beat the usual final-round opponent for Federer -- second-seeded Rafael Nadal on asphalt. He did so at Key Biscayne and Montreal and will repeat the feat in a Flushing semifinal.

However, beating Nadal will be so draining that I don't see Djokovic having enough left to bother Federer the next day in the final. Once again, the U.S. Tennis Association, contrary to the other three majors, runs a flawed tournament, depriving the finalists of a day's rest before the play for the title.

The obvious solution, which may occur someday to the powers-that-be is a Monday night men's final. They may not recall those summertime Monday night finals on PBS that stirred the game's popularity in the 1970s.

Can A-Rod activate his "A" game?
U.S. hopes come in the persons of Andy Roddick, the fifth seed, and James Blake, the sixth seed. If the seeds play to form it's Federer against Roddick in the quarterfinals. And anyone who closely follows the men's tour knows the one-sided scorecard on this matchup: Federer 13-1. Roddick's only win over the world No. 1 coming back in 2003. At least it was on a hardcourt.

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It's fair to question whether Roddick will even make the quarterfinals. He hasn't had the season he was hoping for after his resurgence last year under coach Jimmy Connors. Roddick got to the Australian Open semifinals, but was no match for Roger Federer. He made a cameo at the French Open, beaten in the first round by Russian Igor Andreev, who was ranked No. 125 at the time. At Wimbledon, the American coughed up a two-set lead with a break in falling to Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the quarterfinals.

Roddick's summer hardcourt season featured a title in Washington D.C., but little else that was impressive. Connors' coaching has given Roddick's game a lift despite Roddick's spotty summer on the hardcourts. And when it comes to the U.S. Open, Connors teaches the class on how best to play the grandest stage in the sport. He piloted Roddick to last year's final, and maybe he can do it again. Roddick needs to respond to the challenge.

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