Roger Federer cruised to a dazzling five consecutive US Open titles between 2004 and 2008, but it wasn’t all plain sailing for the tournament directors.
Flushing Meadows proved to be a bankable source of success for the Swiss great, who drew the curtain shut on an illustrious career in 2022.
For five remarkable years, Federer turned Arthur Ashe Stadium into his playground, inflicting cruel pain on rising stars Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, among others.
Since then, no one has come close to having a stranglehold on the US Open quite like Federer did.
What did Roger Federer want to do in Central Park?
This year’s US Open is on the horizon, with Djokovic and Coco Gauff hungry in their bids to defend their titles.
To build hype around the tournament, Andy Roddick invited a tournament insider onto his podcast show to give a behind-the-scenes view of what goes on.
Eric Butorac is an ex-professional ATP player who has been the Director of Player Relations at the US Open for the past eight years.
Speaking as a guest on the latest episode of ‘Served with Andy Roddick‘, Butorac explains his role and recounts an interesting request he received from the 20-time major champion.
“When Federer randomly wanted to practice in Central Park one day,” Butorac recalls. “That was a whole circus of how we get him there and security.
“Things like that become complicated but also fun. Like, how we’re going to get the guy who is the equivalent of ‘The Beatles’ in our sport into Central Park, making sure he is safe and doesn’t get mobbed?
“Stuff like that is fun.”
Who is going to win the men’s singles at the 2024 US Open?
Djokovic is the reigning champion after sweeping the field 12 months ago to claim a remarkable 24th grand slam title, levelling Margaret Court’s record.
However, this is more than enough fuel to feed the Serb’s hunger for success, and even with Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz in the mix, it is hard to look past him.
After a dismal showing in the Wimbledon final earlier this year, Djokovic bounced back to defeat Alcaraz in an epic Olympic showdown to add the missing piece to the proverbial puzzle that is his career.
He then opted to skip the Cincinnati Masters, where he is also the defending champion, further highlighting his desire to clinch victory at Flushing Meadows once more.
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