Roger Federer winning US Open would be a Cinderella story to rival the great James J. Braddock

Time and tide wait for no man. Unless you are Roger Federer.

Federer is a figure who seems to have more stages of his career than the Tour de France. The artful Roger remains a genuine Tour de Force in tennis, but there are many joyous ways in which the older but wiser Roger, professional sport's unlikeliest but freshest Cinderella Man, can be admired from afar.

The term Cinderella Man appears to find its origins in the form of the New York boxer James J. Braddock, who won the World Heavyweight title at Madison Square Garden against the marauding, brutal Max Baer in 1935 amid the backdrop of American's Great Depression.

Despite having arthritic hands and being handpicked as a potential punch bag for Baer to beat up on, Jimmy Braddock, son of Irish immigrants, lived his American Dream to overcome odds of 10/1 and world champion Baer in a story that is immortalised in a Ron Howard film of a decade ago. Russell Crowe played the role of Braddock to some effect. Roger Federer is only 5-1 to flourish at Flushing Meadows at the impending US Open.

The image of Cinderella Man, or the fairytale Cinderella story, has stood the test of time as much as Federer, who will return to Braddock's backyard of New York aiming to inflict the type of feel-good factor upon the general sporting public that Jimmy managed back in the 30s.

For a man who has clasped sporting, monetary and personal excellence, some will argue that it is difficult to swallow the belief that Federer and his 17 Grand Slams can be viewed as a true Cinderalla Man. But these days he is fighting against time as much as his opponents. Not a tournament goes past when Federer's age is not discussed. It is wholly wrong, but there is a stigma clamped to Federer whenever he takes to a court.

How does he continue to do it seems to be the most popular angle? When will the decline begin? Decline is inevitable and sharp in sport, but Federer seems to be a model of what can be achieved when you look after yourself. And reinvent yourself. The legs looks as lively as a decade ago, the movement more serene than Rudolf Nureyev.

Most tennis players are washed up by the age of 34, but the astonishingly elegant Federer appears to be enjoying a new lease of life. About three years after a new lease of life. After 17 years as a professional, he seems to have discovered new strokes, visiting fresh technique and plundering points at the net like never before. He has added variety to his game on his returns, a point acknowledged by a well-beaten Cincinnatti finalist Novak Djokovic.

While foes such as Andy Roddick, 32, have gone and others like Lleyton Hewitt, 34, are going soon, ravaged by injury and beaten down by chasing down balls for years and years – will 29-year-old injury-prone Rafael Nadal and his knees survive until he is 34? - Federer is bouncing around the boiling hard courts of North America this weather with more relish than a Manhattan hot dog. Go easy on the old Father Time comparisons is Roger's thought process.

He goes into next week's US Open as the world number two after a couple of absorbing wins over Andy Murray - who he swaps places with in the rankings - and the game's top player Djokovic at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati over the weekend. And he is hot. Not blowing hot and cold. Conquering New York might just top the lot of his gargantuan feats. If that is possible.

Some will argue that Federer only gorged on the carcasses of a Djokovic and Murray who had blown their tailpipes after rampaging to the final in Montreal a week earlier, but there was a majestic element to Federer's fitness, finesse and general outlook that continues to attract you to an ability and gracefulness seemingly untouched by the sands of time.

It is the years rather than the Big Apple's gridlock that could conspire against Federer in New York. He has won the US Open five times, but the last of those came against a relatively inexperienced Murray back at the fabled Queens venue in 2008.

He lasted hoisted a Slam above his head by defeating Murray at Wimbledon on the cusp of his 31st birthday three years ago.

As the years have progressed, so the men ahead of him on the list marked 'Oldest winners of a Grand Slam' have diminished. Only Ken Rosewall, three times at the age of 37, 36 and 35, and Andres Gimeno (34 years and 10 months) would be above the Swiss artist if he makes off with the trophy from this vantage point.

He is world number two, but under the demands of playing five-set matches, he will be viewed as figure under serious threat of wilting. There is the Masters series in tennis, and then there tournaments for genuine titans of tennis. This is no country for old men. But Federer is not yet desiccated by history. Like Braddock, he should relish his underdog status.

He cannot face Djokovic until the final. Murray would be an obvious road block, but last year's defeat to Marin Cilic suggests danger surrounds him even if he waltzes deep into the tournament. Simply because the history of the game places a shelf life on its heroes. Boosted by the coaching of Stefan Edberg and pursuing a strategy to keep points shorter, Federer's faultless appetite following on from his latest flowering at Wimbledon suggests a fascinating final Grand Slam of the season.

Is it bonkers in Yonkers to think him of with the US Open crown this autumn in what is turning into a golden autumn of his career? Like Jimmy Braddock, it is hardly outlandish to envisage him being king in Queens for a sixth time. A more popular winner in sport, there would not be. A real Cinderella man sees no mortality in sport.