Roger Federer is, in many people’s eyes, the greatest tennis player of all time.
After all, whilst he does not hold all the records, and has not won every single title available, what he did on a tennis court has captured the imagination unlike any player in history seemingly ever has.
He blended a remarkable work ethic with unrivalled elegance, making the magnificent look impossibly easy.
As such, people often mistook his relaxed state for a lack of effort.
His full career should prove that it was anything but.
Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images
Across his glittering 24-year period of professional tennis, he enjoyed countless historic triumphs at some of the sport’s biggest events.
And yet, arguably his one true ‘perfect’ tournament came in Cincinnati, exactly ten years ago.
Roger Federer’s ‘perfect’ Cincinnati run
Heading into the 2015 edition of this event, it had actually been an uncharacteristically underperforming year for the Swiss superstar, who admittedly was now 34 years old.
After all, he was without a Grand Slam title, having failed to even reach the fourth round in Melbourne before exiting in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros.
There had been some impressive runs, but he was thwarted in the final of Indian Wells, Madrid and Wimbledon by Novak Djokovic.
He was not to be denied in Cincinnati though, which marked his only tournament in preparation for the 2015 US Open.
Roger Federer cruised into the semi-final, with routine victories over Roberto Bautista-Agut, Kevin Anderson and Feliciano López, but then faced Andy Murray, the number two-ranked player in the world.
He beat the Scotsman in two tight sets, before then avenging his many losses to Djokovic in the final, winning the title without having dropped a single set.
Speaking after, he admitted: “Oh, yeah, this is the perfect tournament. I don’t think I got broken all week. Like you said, I didn’t drop a set.”
It’s almost ironic given the fiery nature of this pair’s competition to compare Federer and Djokovic’s rivalry with Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner’s.
Roger Federer was the king of the American hard courts
Frustratingly, Federer would then go on to lose yet another final to his Serbian nemesis in New York, once again thwarted by Djokovic on the biggest stage.
And yet, the 43-year-old remains the undisputed king of the American hard courts, with only Pete Sampras and Jimmy Connors able to match his five titles at the US Open.
However, that merely scratches the surface of Federer’s brilliance during this period of the year, as the record-holder at Cincinnati for most titles won (seven).
All of Roger Federer’s Cincinnati Open titles
He remains the only man ever to have won the US Masters’ hard-court treble, as the winner of Indian Wells, Miami and the Cincinnati Masters tournaments all in 2005.
And, he has actually twice completed a perfect tournament at the latter event too, winning the title without dropping a single set.
Whilst Federer is synonymous with grass, as the greatest male champion in Wimbledon history, he was also a serious, legendary threat in the portion of the season that succeeded his usual triumph at the All-England Club.