Federer gets third Slam

Roger Federer of Switzerland battles Lleyton Hewitt of Australia during their championship match at the US Open in New York, Sunday. PHOTO: AP

Roger Federer became the first man since 1988 to win three Grand Slam tournaments in a year, thoroughly outclassing Lleyton Hewitt 6-0, 7-6 (3), 6-0 Sunday to add the US Open title to those he took at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

There hadn't been two shutout sets in the event's championship match since 1884.

"It was a perfect start," Federer said. "Tough for Lleyton, obviously, but for me, a great start."

And here's what was particularly remarkable: The top-ranked Federer's opponent was no pushover. The Swiss dominated every facet against Hewitt, a former No. 1 and a two-time major champion, including the 2001 US Open.

Federer led the fourth-seeded Australian in winners (40-12), aces (11-1) and service breaks (7-1).

With his fluid, all-court game, cool demeanor and win-the-big-ones determination, Federer already is inspiring talk about whether he can challenge Sampras' record of 14 major titles. Sampras got No. 4 at age 22; Federer turned 23 last month.

"Roger is a complete player. He has the ability to change his game slightly as to what his opponent's doing to him," said 1946-1947 US Open winner Jack Kramer, inducted Sunday into the tournament's Court of Champions.

Hewitt entered Sunday 2-0 in Slam finals, winning 16 straight matches. He was trying to become the first man to win the Open without dropping a set since Neale Fraser in 1960.

Well, that vanished quickly.

Federer raced through the first set in all of 18 minutes, winning 24 of the 29 points, including the final 12. Hewitt needed half an hour just to win a game, and by then he was down a break in the second set, too.

Federer made only two unforced errors in the first, but his level dropped quite a bit in the second, when he made 20. And then, just like that, Federer turned it back on, winning 14 of the first 16 points in the third set.

Double trouble

Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain and Paola Suarez of Argentina won their third straight US Open doubles title by beating singles champion Svetlana Kuznetsova and Elena Likhovtseva of Russia 6-4, 7-5.

Ruano Pascual and Suarez won three Grand Slam doubles championships this year, raising their career total to seven. They've played in 10 of the past 11 major finals; the only blip was a loss to Cara Black and Rennae Stubbs in this year's Wimbledon semifinals.

Serving for the match at 5-4, Suarez double-faulted to love-40, then sailed a shot long to get broken to 5-all. But Likhovtseva was broken at love right back, and Ruano Pascual served it out.

It's the first time in the Open era, which began in 1968, that a pair won three straight women's doubles titles at the US Open. Last year, Ruano Pascual and Suarez beat Kuznetsova and Martina Navratilova for the title.