Federer Collects ATP Masters Cup

Zoom! In this town that prides itself on the Johnson Space Center, that man in orbit is named Roger Federer.

He didn’t need mission control to guide him into the ozone, leaving his colleagues far behind. Federer plots his own course, riding a tennis racket to the moon, where he’ll be hard to catch as 2004 disappears and 2005 awaits his further giant steps beyond the rest of the crowd.

Federer closed a second successive Masters championship by treating 2001-02 champ Lleyton Hewitt like a lackey, winning 6-3, 6-2, in 66 minutes.

Spouting his trademark cry of “Come on!” en route to beating Andy Roddick, 6-3, 6-2, in the semifinals, Hewitt was silent Sunday. The No. 3 guy has now been flattened six straight times by Federer, none of those engagements close.

“I’ve been rocketing for the last year,” said Federer, who won $1.5 million and a Mercedes sports car.

Hewitt was saved by the rain, for a while: an almost three-hour delay at the beginning of the final, and a 77-minute intermission when the speedy Aussie trailed 2-5, 40-30.

But when Hewitt double faulted, and was dented by a massive forehand, to lose his serve in the second game, one could tell that Federer, quickly ahead 3-0, would run him out. Too bad there were no Swiss equipped with cow bells in the sodden audience of 5,000 to salute their countryman. They surely would have been ding-dong happy when he ran the hard court for the last five games.

Hewitt didn’t sniff one break point, not even a deuce against Federer’s stifling serve.

He couldn’t counter Federer’s serve (nine aces, three service winners), the sliced backhand that hugged the paving, the bludgeoning forehand, angled volleys and the effortless moves that quickly closed openings.

Hewitt roused the crowd by reviving from three break points, 0-40, to win the opening game of the second set, and led 2-1, only to be squashed.

Hewitt admiringly recalled “the point where Roger hit a good drop shot. But I reached it and put a good shot to the baseline, and he half-volleyed a backhand winner. That’s what you’re up against.”

Federer won his 11th title, the most since Thomas Muster racked a dozen in 1995. But Federer’s dominance is more impressive: winning his last 13 finals. He batted .925, a 74-6 match record, the best since Ivan Lendl’s .925 in 1986 and John McEnroe’s .965 in 1984.

People are already talking about his chances to eclipse Pete Sampras’ record of 14 singles majors. Sampras had five at age 23. Federer, 23, has four, and will shoot for a fifth at the Australian Open in January

Neither Lendl nor McEnroe won three majors in one year as Federer has (Australian Open, Wimbledon, U.S. Open). Mats Wilander did in 1988, but failed in the Masters. Of the majors and the Masters, Federer has four this year.

Could this be the finest season since Rodney Laver’s Grand Slam of 1969, the year before the Masters was founded?

Federer, who went 18-0 against his peers of the top 10, has won 23 straight. He “regrets a bad Olympics,” during which he lost to Czech teenager Tomas Berdych in the third round. Another regret was a third-round loss to Gustavo Kuerten at the French, costing him a Grand Slam. “But I’ve really rocketed,” he said, “and have a lot to be glad about.”