海角大神

Despite some of the heartbreak he's suffered here the last few years, Roger聽Federer聽has always loved these trips to New York.

Top-seeded聽Federer聽played up to his billing Monday night, dispatching American Donald Young 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to open his quest for a sixth U.S. Open title, which would be an Open-era record.

"The U.S. Open, for me, was always, I don't want to say easy, but very natural and I've always looked forward to it in a big way,"聽Federer聽said.

Possibly because of matches like Monday's, in which 20,000-plus fans cheered him on during a breezy-but-comfortable night for a win that took only 1 hour, 34 minutes.

"It's a place that brings out the best in me,"聽Federer聽said.

With his Wimbledon title and the silver medal at the Olympics earlier this summer,聽Federer聽returned to No. 1 for the first time in 25 months.

His first career match against Young was a predictable affair, with Young trying to force the issue by coming to the net and聽Federer聽taking advantage of his younger competitor's impatience. He finished with 27 winners and 24 unforced errors, compared to 17 and 30 for Young.

Young fell to 3-22 this year, including a 17-match losing streak.

"It's a lot of pressure because I'm going into this match as a big favorite,"聽Federer聽said. "But Donald put up a great fight. He's had a rough year and I'm glad to see he's playing better."

"And for me,"聽Federer聽said, "it continues."

There were times when it seemed as if it would never end, most notably in 2008, when聽Federer聽won his fifth consecutive U.S. Open.

A year later, he was two points away from No. 6 but Juan Martin del Potro pulled off a five-set victory. The past two years,聽Federer聽had a pair of match points against Novak Djokovic in the semifinals, but was unable to convert them.

Federer聽said he re-dedicated himself after last year's loss. This year, he comes in as the top seed, but he considers Djokovic, the defending champion, to be the favorite.

"It's where he feels most comfortable,"聽Federer聽said of Djokovic, the No. 2 seed.

Not to say聽Federer聽isn't comfortable on the hard courts in New York, too.

"The distractions are a challenge 鈥� the wind, the humidity, the early matches, the really late, late matches," he said. "That takes some getting used to. But experience can help with that, too."

Coming in,聽Federer聽broke the record he shared with Pete Sampras by earning the top seed for a Grand Slam for the 23rd time. Neither that nor his regained status as No. 1 in the world will mean so much to him, however, if he doesn't close out his time in New York with his 18th Grand Slam title.

"I'm happy I'm the world No. 1 right now but it's not what drives me at the U.S. Open,"聽Federer聽said. "It's actually trying to get that title or get closer to that title."