Djokovic stuns Federer
Posted By admin on September 12, 2010
Novak Djokovic will play Rafael Nadal for the US Open men’s singles title on Sunday after beating Roger Federer 5-7 6-1 5-7 6-2 7-5 in their semi-final.
In an epic contest at Flushing Meadows, the third-seeded Serb came back from two sets to one down and also saved two match points in the decider as he denied Federer what would have been a seventh consecutive final appearance.
Djokovic had not reached a Grand Slam final since winning the Australian Open at the start of 2008 and had lost his previous four semi-finals – including two in the last two years to Federer in New York.
Yet he will now take on world number one Nadal in the final, the Spaniard having earlier beaten Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny in straight sets.
Nadal is sure to start the favourite as he attempts to secure a career Grand Slam and his cause will have been helped by the fact it took him just two hours and 13 minutes to beat Youzhny.
He was then able to sit back and relax as Djokovic took on Federer in a contest that lasted a full three hours and 44 minutes.
Thrilled
“It’s really hard to describe the feeling I have right now,” Djokovic said.
“Ten minutes ago I was a point from losing and managed to come back.
“It was just a big pleasure playing in this kind of match, it is one of those you will always remember in your career and I am just so thrilled to be in the final.
“I was just closing my eyes and hitting the forehand as fast as I can on the match points. If it goes in, it goes in, if it goes out it’s another loss to Federer in the US Open. I was lucky and it was just a couple of points to decide the winner.”
Djokovic’s chances did not look good when Federer took the opening set despite initially falling 4-2 behind – the Swiss star immediately breaking back before breaking again to love in the 11th game.
But any notions he might have had of a straightforward progression to the final were swiftly dismissed when Djokovic ripped through the second set with two breaks of serve, the 23-year-old hitting some superb dipping backhands which Federer could not deal with as he approached the net.
The third set was much tighter, with Federer taking it with a single break of serve to love in the 12th game.
At that stage, he again appeared headed towards yet another final but Djokovic clearly had other ideas and once more breezed through a set with two breaks.
His cause was nevertheless helped though by Federer’s propensity for unforced errors – in particular a number of mis-timed shots from behind the baseline.
Nerveless
With Djokovic serving out for the fourth set, Federer had the advantage of serving first in the decider and it almost paid off in the 10th game when Djokovic found himself on the receiving end of two match points.
However, with both players by now playing highly-charged rallies of the highest quality, he responded with two nerveless winners which were struck right into the corner of the court.
Djokovic made the most of his escape in the next game, forcing Federer into two forehand errors to break serve before holding his nerve to serve out the match.
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