Federer Opens up about '09 loss

Turns out, the one that got away from Roger Federer hasn't gone away.

A year ago, when the opportunity for a sixth consecutive U.S. Open title lay in ashes left by a smoking Juan-Martin del Potro, Federer insisted that a 2009 in which he had finally won the French Open, reclaimed Wimbledon and became a father, had been far too good a year to ruin with just one bad day of serving.

"Some losses hit harder than others," he said then, not what he's saying now, what with all the things being said about his best days and strongest incentives being behind him with a record 16 Grand Slam trophies already in the case.

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"Maybe there is extra incentive for me after being two points away [in the fourth set before fading in the fifth] last year," says Federer. "It was tough to swallow. That was one of the finals I should never have lost.

"Del Potro played great and deserved the victory."

Funny Federer would say that. When he forgot to praise Tomas Berdych after losing in the Wimbledon quarterfinals, it was practically the End of Civility considering how gracious Federer has been in addition to being honest, almost as hard a thing to do as beating Rafael Nadal.

Federer leaped from his pedestal like a suddenly-enraged circus lion off a stool, uncharacteristically complaining about undisclosed injuries, scoffing about any "reinvention" of Berdych and Robin Soderling, who in Paris had ended Federer's 23-match semifinal streak in majors.

"When I'm healthy I can beat these guys," he said, suddenly sounding like a creaking, cranky, old man, not one universally loved by the players he loves to beat.

"Because I've never talked about not feeling well physically, people were shocked," said Federer. "I thought I should be open about my feelings and got criticized for it and don't understand why.

"It's just fact that you go through a 10-year career sometimes feeling sick or injured. I gave all the credit to Berdych, thought he played incredibly well.

"I was very frustrated with my body not keeping up. That's not what I was expecting from it but it was quite easy to get over the loss. I guess for once I did have some excuses to some degree, which almost makes it feel better sometimes."

Let the record show that after advancing to the third round through Andreas Beck, 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 yesterday, Federer is happy with both his health and game.

"Body is well, mentally obviously I'm fresh, too," he said. "I haven't played much. It's good I'm saving myself for tough matches ahead and my game is fine."

Hopefully, Robin Soderling will be waiting next Saturday to be the judge of that, before Nadal the next day. Federer has nothing left to prove, but neither did Wayne Gretzky and Michael Jordan, who were who they were because of the need to prove themselves ad infinitum.

"People say, 'He's not the same,' " said Federer. "That's not something new because I knew I was not the same playing a few events.

"I look back at the last six years of being incredibly successful. Being a defending champion or not doesn't change a whole lot. OK, maybe I don't have as many points to defend but I don't have sleepless nights over that kind of stuff anymore.

"Maybe I do take losses a little bit easier than I used to but they don't make me happy, definitely make me work harder again. I expect to pick up more titles along the way."

jay.greenberg@nypost.com