NEW YORK:Roger Federer is looking to regain the aura of invincibility he once owned and says a fifth consecutive US Open victory would be just the thing to put him back atop the tennis world. The 12-time Grand Slam champion won his 30th consecutive US Open match, defeating Czech Radek Stepanek 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 Sunday to reach the fourth round of the year's last major tournament. Federer lost to top-ranked Rafael Nadal in the Wimbledon and French Open finals and was dethroned from the rankings summit two weeks ago after a record 237-week reign. But the Swiss superstar sees the Federer Express only one Slam title away from getting back on track. Federer remains two Slam singles crowns shy of Pete Sampras' all-time record of 14 as he tries to become the first player since Bill Tilden in 1924 to win five US titles in a row, dispatching Stepanek in formidable fashion. Federer's win streak at Flushing Meadows since losing to David Nalbandian in the round of 16 in 2003 does not include a fourth-round walkover in 2004.
He has not fallen short of the fourth round at a Slam since the 2004 French Open. Never in tennis history have players met in the finals of three consecutive Slams in the same year but Nadal and Federer are in position to make it happen next Sunday.
Federer will next face Russia's Igor Andreev, who eliminated Spanish 13th seed Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 6-4, 6-4.
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