Roger Federer never thought in his "wildest dreams" he would win the U.S. Open.

But, after a near-perfect 6-0, 7-6, 6-0 victory over Lleyton Hewitt in Sunday's final, the Australian Open and Wimbledon champion has also finally cracked the Big Apple.

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The 23-year-old Swiss, rapidly establishing himself as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, had never previously gone beyond the fourth round at Flushing Meadows.

"Not in my wildest dreams did I think I would win the U.S. Open, it's still tough to believe. At the end of the year I'll probably look back and think 'how in the world did I do that?'," Federer told reporters.

"To me, it seems like if you can handle New York you can handle anything.

"Actually, honestly, I couldn't have hoped for more. I had a strange feeling going into the final, with all the talk, nobody has ever won four in a row, but now that I did it, it's great."

Federer became the first man in the Open Era to win his first four Grand Slam finals and the first man since Swede Mats Wilander in 1988 to capture three Grand Slams in one year.

But he showed his usual humility in the post-match news conference, producing a performance equally as classy as his tennis in the one hour 49 minute final.

DEMANDING SPORT

"This is a demanding sport, that's why I'm grateful for every tournament I win, or every Grand Slam. You never know when it might be your last.

"One injury, whatever it takes, and your career can be destroyed. I'm conscious of that. I want to stay at the top but only time will tell."

Despite the scoreline, Federer said there were plenty of anxious moments in the match, particularly when Hewitt broke back to lead 6-5 in the second set.

"Looking back it was a key part of the game, if I had lost that second set it would have been bad. One set all would have been a different match.

"Lleyton deserved to break back because he hung in there so tough. But I should have won the second set before, I had my chances.

"In the end, to win in straight sets is fantastic, I got the start I was dreaming of."

With four Grand Slams at the age of 23, the comparisons with 14-times grand slam winner Pete Sampras are hard to resist, although Federer refuses to talk in such lofty terms.

"There are still plenty of other guys in front of me, not just Sampras," he said. "It's not a goal for me to beat Pete's record. For me that is not the motivation.

"Last year was a great year, winning my first Grand Slam title (at Wimbledon), but suddenly I'm sitting here this year with nine (tour) titles. It's insane.

"But I'm still at the beginning. The road is long, there's a lot of hard work to do and you never know when the day might arrive that you are sick of travelling.

"Right now I'm enjoying life as world number one and I want to stay a bit longer. But the most important thing for me is to be an idol for the kids and represent the sport correctly."