Two things are for sure right now in the world of individual sports: Tiger Woods never loses a major on the final day of play, and Roger Federer not only owns men's tennis, but he may soon break all the records the illustrious sport has ever had.
Look out Rod Laver and Pete Sampras!
Apparently, there is no real chink in Roger Federer's armor, other than maybe Rafa on clay. Other than the Spaniard who made clam diggers cool again, it seems no one can put a stop to his utter dominance of the sport. Andy Roddick, who after Sunday's loss in the U.S. Open championship at Flushing Meadows, is now 1-13 lifetime versus Federer.
And in all honesty, few people have been even that close.
For the first time since Wimbledon in 2004, Roddick hung with the Swiss phenom for three sets.
That was until Federer decided to flip the switch and break his spirit the twelfth game of the third set.
Up until that point, Roddick had seemingly frustrated the unflappable one with an impressive array of forehands and overhead volleys at net.
However, like all great superstars, Federer knew he needed just one break in the third to halt Roddick's momentum. And, of course, he got it after jumping on a couple 130-mph serves from Roddick and taking a 0-30 lead at 6-5.
It almost looked as if Roddick took for granted that he would go to a decisive tiebreaker in the third set with Federer.
Ha ha, think again.
Federer once again flexed his muscle and took away Roddick's one strength in his serve.
So where does American tennis stand now, compared to where it did after Wimbledon a few short months ago?
Much better.
It looks as if Roddick and James Blake are more than capable of elevating the sport here in America.
After months of mediocrity, at best, Roddick looked in the direction of Jimmy Connors to help lift him out of his funk.
It isn't that Andy is a bad tennis player, he has just always seemed to lack the attitude or fire in his eyes that it takes to get to that next level and be mentioned in the same breath as a John McEnroe, Sampras, Agassi or even his new advisor.
A 146-mph serve can only get you so far.
Most of the time it looks like Roddick is content with just blowing his serve by each one of his opponents, and not too concerned with any other facets of his game.
This is where having the fiery Connors might help the underachieving star.
During the championship match, Roddick looked more willing to take chances and force the game upon Federer instead of sitting back and letting his counterpart dictate tempo.
Let's just hope that Roddick and his new 'coach' won't just be satisfied with getting back to a final in a major.
Ryan M. Marsh is a sophomore journalism major and writes 'Ryan Knows All' for the Daily News. His views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper.
Write to Ryan at rmmarsh@bsu.edu.
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