When you consider how many great matches we were able to see there is no question it was a great tournament! When you look at the men's draw and the way the scheduling was made during the event, you may ask yourself, was it really a great US Open?

As lover of the game and ultimately a fair person, I do not want to detract from the great merit and achievement of Roger Federer that is indeed a very talented individual and certainly not responsible for certain obvious flaws in the system. Which can not stop me from looking at the lopsided way the order of play, the times of play, the courts chosen and even unusually long rest periods between matches that should have everyone else with big question marks on their foreheads. Starting at the top of the mens draw, if you take a serious look at it your jaws will drop low:

Roger Federer
Qualifier
Qualifier
Qualifier
Qualifier
Qualifier
Wild Card

Considering that in the 1920s and 1930s where the winner of the previous US Open only had to play the winner of a qualifying tournament after everyone’s killed themselves against each other in grueling matches! In 2007 we have not evolved much, if we analyse the facts with honesty the winner of the US Open 2007 by virtue of playing qualifiers in the first 4 rounds, he only had to play 2 more challenging matches then Bill Tilden for example in 1939, that is the quarter-finals (last eight) and the semi-finals (last four) of the tournament!

Of course the record books and the media will hype this whole thing! But is it really fair to say that there was an even draw and the best player won?

Even though I would like to, I am not going to mention the bottom of the draw and the physical consequences those 3 1/2 and 4-hour matches had on the players involved. My next question is how much biased can scheduling be? From what I see unfairness in scheduling match times is unlimited.

Day 1: Monday, 27 August
Roger Federer (SUI)[1]def Scoville Jenkins (USA) (3:00 PM Day Match)
Day 2: Tuesday, 28 August
Novak Djokovic (SRB)[3] def Robin Haase (NED) (3:00 PM Day Match)

Day 3: Wednesday, 29 August
Roger Federer (SUI)[1] def Paul Capdeville (CHI) (Night Match 7:00 PM)
(Cool evening match!)
Day 5: Friday, 31 August
Novak Djokovic (SRB)[3]def Radek Stepanek (CZE) (11:00 AM Day Match)
4 hour match on court temperatures well over 30 Celsius! Both players close to heat stroke!
 
Day 6: Saturday, 1 September
Roger Federer (SUI)[1] def John Isner (USA) (4:00 PM Day Match)
(Much cooler temperatures then 11:00 AM to 15:00 PM then N.D. in previous day)
Day 7: Sunday, 2 September
Novak Djokovic (SRB)[3] def Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG)
(Cool Night Match 7:00 PM)

Day 8: Monday, 3 September
Roger Federer (SUI)[1] def Feliciano Lopez (ESP)
(Cool Night Match after 7:00 PM)
Day 9: Tuesday, 4 September
Novak Djokovic (SRB)[3] def Juan Monaco (ARG)[23] (3:00 PM Day Match)

Day 10: Wednesday, 5 September
Roger Federer (SUI)[1] def Andy Roddick (USA)[5]
(CoolNight Match 7:00 PM)
Day 11: Thursday, 6 September
Novak Djokovic (SRB)[3] def Carlos Moya (ESP)[17]
(Cool Night Match 7:00 PM)

Notice the importance of rest: Previous to the quarters and the semis Roger had 2 days and 16hrs (64hrs) rest,  Djokovic had 1 day and 12hrs (36hrs) or 28hrs less rest then Federer!  This means that when Federer came to the final he was as fresh as a lettuce in the morning dew, while Djokovic was more like a wilted lettuce from the searing sun. 
 
Day 13: Saturday, 8 September
Novak Djokovic (SRB)[3] def David Ferrer (ESP)[15]
(12:00 NOON Day Match) On court temperatures well over 30 Celsius! Novak Djokovic close to heat stroke! While Roger played on the same day at about 4:00 PM in much cooler conditions!
Day 13: Saturday, 8 September
Roger Federer (SUI)[1] def Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)[4]
(About 4:00 PM Following Djokovic's Day Match)

Day 14: Sunday, 9 September
Roger Federer (SUI)[1] def Novak Djokovic (SRB)[3] (Not Before 4:30 PM)

All of this and not to mention what was done on Day 10: Wednesday, 5 September to Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)[4] def Tommy Haas (GER)[10] (11:00 AM Day Match) On court temperatures well over 30 Celsius! While Roger played on the same day at 7:00 PM in the cool breeze of the evening!

Some will say: But Djokovic nerves did not hold up. I will tell them: If you consider the fact that previous to the quarters and the semis Roger had 2 days and 16hrs (64hrs) rest, Djokovic had 1 day and 12hrs (36hrs) or 28hrs less rest then Federer and if you had played under the temperatures Novak Djokovic did play to the point of almost having a heat-stroke in the matches against Radek Stepanek & David Ferrer (semi-final), while your opponent (Roger Federer) played in the cool breezes of the evening, your nerves would be a lot more fragile and your body and mind would also be a lot weaker then that of your well rested opponent! "His brain wilted from hitherto unprecedented weariness" (Vladimir Nabokov).

Imagine the outrage if the same was done in the 100 meter dash in Athletics at the Olympics! Now realize that efforts and fatigue from each tennis match can be the equivalent to more then a marathon!

This reminds me of Wimbledon 2007 where Nadal had to play 5 days in a row while Federer rested 5 days!

When we all know that at this level of competition every little edge counts and if we look at the facts 28hrs more rest for Federer and playing in the cool breezes of the evening while others are in the scorching sun for hours, is not a little edge, this is tantamount to outright favouritism and ignorance of the most basic principles of fairness in sports scheduling!

No wonder that young Novak Djokovic was wobbly on his legs from the first point in the final and that easy mistakes creeped up on him during the course of the match. I have no doubts in my mind, if a level scheduling playing field had been set in previous rounds, Roger Federer would not have had a chance! All you got to do is look at the score line 7/6 , 7/6, 6/4, Djokovic held five set points against Federer in the first set and another two in the second, just give young Djokovic 20% more rest and Roger would have been eclipsed!

As I said before, this is not Roger Federers fault and if there is someone I like to watch and see winning tournaments it is Roger! To end I must add that Roger has enough tennis quality and athleticism not to need these unfair advantages and by seeing Rogers demeanour and correctness I am positive that he does not approve of what is going on! We need to move tennis away from the 1900 hundreds into the 21st century.

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