Federer overcomes Djokovic to reach US Open final
Saturday, 06 Sep 2008 20:42
Roger Federer was on top form today
Roger Federer is on course to win a fifth straight US Open title after overcoming Serbian star Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals today.
The 27-year-old defending champion hasn't been in top form this tournament, but he unveiled an array if blistering winners to overwhelm Djokovic 6-3 5-7 7-5 6-2.
Federer got off to the best possible start as he broke Djokovic in the fourth game of the opening set to take a 3-1 lead. The Swiss maestro, who served brilliantly all match sending down 20 aces, gave Djokovic hardly a look-in on his service games and won the opening set 6-3.
A gruelling year, which saw the players taking a trip to Beijing for the Olympics, has left a lot of them tired heading into the US Open, and at the start of the second set Djokovic looked absolutely exhausted.
But the 21-year-old kept fighting and continued to hold his own alongside Federer from the back of the court. Djokovic played like a man with nothing to lose and managed to break Federer to take a 3-1 lead.
Djokovic, however, through away the initiative as his served up a couple of double faults as Federer broke him to roar back to 4-4. The players held onto their serves as Djokovic took a 6-5 lead in the second set. Federer then gifted Djokovic a 0-40 lead on his serve thanks to a string of unforced errors. The Swiss star fought back to 30-40, but an error on the backhand side gave Djokovic the set.
The two players played some excellent tennis in the third set as both of them hit some unbelievable winners. But when it came to the crucial moments in the match, it was Federer who came up trumps. The former world number one broke a tiring Djokovic at 5-5 in the third set and eventually took it 7-5.
Djokovic seemed to be physically shattered by the start of the fifth set and Federer cruised to the win and setup a final clash with either Rafael Nadal or British number one Andy Murray.