Roger Federer can banish Wimbledon memories at US Open - and it'd be his sweetest win

Cast your mind back to last month and Roger Federer stood on the precipice of a ninth Wimbledon title. With two match points in his grasp, it seemed almost inevitable that the Swiss legend would be raising the hallowed trophy aloft once again on Centre Court.

But Novak Djokovic, the immovable object from Serbia had other ideas, and he showed incredible resilience to defy Federer in an epic final, snatching the deciding set 13-12 to take his 16th Grand Slam title.

The roadshow heads to the US Open for the final major of the season and an event where the ‘Fab Three’ consisting of Federer, Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have had a stranglehold on the tournament. Over the next fortnight, there will be fascinating sub plots and one of the game’s leading lights seems likely to triumph.

While Federer will be hoping to get his hands on a sixth title there, but has to somehow put to the back of his mind that epic final at SW19. Winning comes naturally to the 38-year-old, however his last US Open crown came in 2008. It feels like a victory is long overdue for him and he has eased his preparations in the build-up by playing just Cincinnati where he lost to Andrey Rublev in the last 16.

Nevertheless, Federer insists that a caravaning holiday lifted his spirits and he feels fresher than he has done in years.

He said: “Overall, if I look back, I'm very happy.

"The way I played at Wimbledon is going to give me some extra confidence.

"This is probably the best I've felt in years coming into the US Open which is encouraging."

Of course, numerous obstacles lie in the path including Djokovic as they are both in the same half of the draw and they could face off in the last four. The world No 1 showed some signs of fallibility in his semi-final defeat to Daniil Medvedev in the Cincinnati Masters where the Russian felt at ease.

Djokovic of course thrives playing under the bright lights at Flushing Meadows and it is a surface that plays to strengths as he is one of the greatest returners the game has ever seen.

Nadal, meanwhile has been talked up to add to his tally of 18 majors, but the only question mark surrounding the Spaniard is whether his body can hold up. However, he will have been buoyed by his Rogers Cup win.

But for Federer, this is a time to put to bed the pain of Wimbledon.

One of the ‘Fab Three’ seems destined to win the US Open, but will this be Federer’s time? The race to be the most decorated male player of the game in the Open era is on and Federer leads with 20 Slams to his name.

Age has not slowed him down despite the rise to prominence of Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev, but a 21st major would surely be the sweetest of them all.