Nadal starts journey as No. 1 with Day 1 win at U.S. Open

"That's what I think."

What others think is this Open has great potential. Roger Federer didn't play Monday, but he was in the procession Monday night, champion the last four years, conundrum this year.

For the first time since 2003, Roger is not at the head of the pack, and whatever the reasons for his slide -- growing a bit older, being over-marketed, developing mononucleosis over the winter -- he's out of sorts.

Someone asked him if the No. 1-seeded Nadal was the clear favorite. Federer seemed to take it personally, perhaps understandable since Nadal has taken Roger's glory.

"Clear favorite?" he said rhetorically. "I don't know about that. But I suppose he seems like the favorite even though I've won here the last four times. Like you say, Rafa has never been beyond the quarters."

The so-called "Parade of Champions" had the cast of the show Jersey Boys as entertainment and actor Forest Whitaker as the master of ceremonies.

Whitaker won an Oscar for Last King of Scotland, which had nothing to do with the reign of Roger Federer as last king of tennis.

"I always expected to win here," Federer said of his chances. And Nadal's. "Now it changes a little bit. Rafa will now feel what I had to feel for a very long time."

Surely Federer is trying to psyche Nadal. And psyche himself. There must be doubts. For Roger.

Nadal doesn't appear to have any.

"I play (with) a little bit less intensity than the last few months," observed Nadal, who speaks English well enough, if not perfectly. "The important thing, final, is win. I know I am playing well."

So does everyone else.