US Open: Can Federer and Serena soar into cloud 18?

Roger Federer crafts some magic against Sam Groth at the US Open / Getty Images

In the largest borough of New York, there are a couple of towering giants seeking to stamp their authority over an imposing park. Both athletes have hardly anything left to establish, yet are eager to open a new front in their relentless quest for further greatness. There is something esoteric about eighteen, both in life and sport. And it is a number that seems to transport an athlete into a realm that can seemingly offer immortality.

Jack Nicklaus is perhaps the flag bearer for Club 18, his mark is treated with near reverence in golf and beyond. Both Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert also possess an impressive collection of 18 grand slam titles. Midway through the 134th edition of the US Open, the temptation to believe that the coming weekend could turn out to be magical is beginning to gather momentum. Roger Federer and Serena Williams are both on 17 grand slam titles and every match they win here inches them closer to that mythical number.

An ecstacy too far

Serena is set to turn 33 next month, but is showing no signs of her age or the wear and tear that comes with nearly twenty years of professional tennis. The perennial favourite, every time she walks out to play, Serena is yet again an overwhelming favourite to win a sixth US Open title a week from now. But she has been stuck on 17, since her rousing triumph at Flushing Meadows last year.

An inexplicable dalliance with inconsistency and injury have combined to deprive Serena any real chance of adding to her substantial tally of grand slam titles this season. While her fourth round defeat in Melbourne was explained away to a back injury, Serena did not acquit herself too well either against Garbine Muguruza in Paris or Alize Cornet in London.

Federer has turned 33 earlier this month and has struggled far more than Serena, by his own exacting standards. Since clinching his 16th grand slam at the 2010 Australian Open, Federer has won just once in 18 attempts. And over two years since claiming his 17th at the Wimbledon in 2012, Federer is still searching for an elusive 18th title.

The Swiss appeared to be plumbing a new low last year, when he succumbed to Sergiy Stakhovsky in Wimbledon and Tommy Robredo at the US Open. It was the earliest Federer lost at a grand slam since his emergence as a grand slam champion, but more importantly, the great man was bizarrely off key causing many to wonder if an interminable decline was beginning to affect the Nureyev of tennis.

Competition has deepened

Missteps aside, both Federer and Serena have also been forced to deal with a growing bunch of confident players willing to believe in their own ability to upend the established order. A new generation of young players have stepped up to the plate – Victoria Azarenka, Simona Halep, Eugenie Bouchard and the like - on the women’s tour just as the late bloomers such as Li Na have recalibrated their arsenal for the new realities of women’s tennis.

The troika of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray have peaked during the recent past to take over from a dominant Federer. These men have created their own streaks of success to pave the way for the next generation of younger athletes such as Grigor Dimitrov, Milos Raonic and Kei Nishikori.

The French Open, where Ernests Gulbis destroyed Federer, emphasized the fact that reputation was neither accepted as currency nor did it work as insurance. The story was not too different for Serena, who was upended by an inspired Garbine Muguruza, who showed scant respect for her opponent’s formidable record or reputation.

A scent of renaissance

Rested and refreshed after a brief holiday immediately after a rigorous European season, Serena and Federer arrived on the hard courts with an air of calm confidence. Reaching the finals at the Rogers Cup and winning the title at Cincinnati Masters energized Federer.

The absence of Rafael Nadal came as an unexpected fillip for Federer, who was not faced with the prospect of dealing with Djokovic before the finals. And the stars seemed to glitter even more when the chips fell in his favour during the draw. Meanwhile, Serena has already clinched the US Open series and was going to be the overwhelming favourite so long as her body held up.

Serena Williams has been at her sparkling best at the US Open / Getty Images

A path that was lined with Marinko Matosevic, Samuel Groth, Marcel Granollers and perhaps Bautista Agut for a spot in the quarterfinal was not going to worry the great Swiss. The freedom lifted Federer into produced a couple of moments of sheer magic – a tweener against Matosevic and a half volley lob against Groth underlined the fact that some magic was starting to fill the air around Flushing Meadows.

As we get inside the deep end of the pool at the US Open, there is a palpable sense of expectation that is gaining currency around the campaigns of Federer and Serena. The coming days will reveal whether this edition of the US Open can go down into the pages of history as an epic of the eighteenth cloud.