Federer regains his form

5th straight U.S. Open title ties Bill Tilden

NEW YORK -- No matter what anyone else said or thought, Roger Federer knew he was still capable of elite tennis.

Knew he was still capable of winning Grand Slam titles.

Knew he was still Roger Federer.

Back at his best, back at the top of tennis, Federer easily beat Andy Murray 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 Monday to win his fifth consecutive U.S. Open tennis championship and 13th major title overall.

Federer is the first man since Bill Tilden in the 1920s to win the tournament that many times in a row. He also moved to one major championship from tying Pete Sampras' career record of 14.

"One thing's for sure," Federer said in an on-court interview. "I'm not going to stop at 13. That would be terrible."

The victory clearly came as something of a relief to Federer, who has struggled during a lackluster-only-for-him season.

"I had a couple of tough Grand Slams this year ... so to take this one home is incredible," Federer said after stretching his U.S. Open winning streak to 34 matches.

"I came up against, in my opinion, the best player ever to play the game," Murray said. "He definitely set the record straight today."

Federer accumulated a 36-16 advantage in winners, a 7-2 count in breaks of serve, and won the point on 31 of 44 trips to the net.

Murray -- whose ranking rises to No. 4 -- stood about 10 feet behind the baseline to return serves, exactly the way he did against Rafael Nadal in their two-day, rain-interrupted semifinal. And Murray displayed flashes of the get-to-every-ball defense he used against Nadal.

But Federer, who might have benefited from an extra day to rest because his semifinal wasn't affected by Tropical Storm Hanna, was simply too much for Murray.

When the men met at the net after the match, Murray felt compelled to share a thought with Federer.

"I told him that he had, you know, a phenomenal year," Murray said, "regardless of what anyone said."