Novak Djokovic prevented an eighth Grand Slam championship
match between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer - and the first at the U.S. Open -
by saving two match points and coming back to stun Federer 5-7, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2,
7-5 in Saturday's semifinals.
"One of those matches," Djokovic said,
"you'll always remember in your career."
It means that the third-seeded Djokovic will be standing
between No. 1 Nadal and a career Grand Slam in the final Sunday. Nadal owns
eight major titles but had never been past the semifinals at the U.S. Open
before beating No. 12 Mikhail Youzhny 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 earlier Saturday.
Federer had reached six consecutive U.S. Open finals,
winning five trophies from 2004-08, but he repeatedly let leads slip away this
time. Federer took the first set against Djokovic, then the third. And even
after Djokovic forced a fifth set, Federer twice was a single point from
winning.
With the crowd in Arthur Ashe Stadium trying to will Federer
to victory - probably because of the tantalizing prospect of a final between
him and Nadal - the owner of a record 16 Grand Slam titles couldn't seize his
chances.
"They all pretty much feel the same: You feel so empty
at the end, I guess, because you tried everything," said Federer, who
hadn't dropped a set all tournament before Saturday, but was hurt by 66
unforced errors, 28 more than Djokovic.
"You feel like you left something out there if you lose
a match having had match point," Federer added. "It wasn't a final,
so I'm not as disappointed if it would have been a final."
This setback comes after losses in the quarterfinals of both
the French Open and Wimbledon, and Federer closes the 2010 Grand Slam season
having played in one major final - the first year since 2003 that he hasn't
reached at least two.
Nadal, meanwhile, will be bidding Sunday to become the first
man since Rod Laver in 1969 to win the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open
in the same season. The 24-year-old Spaniard also can become the seventh man in
tennis history to own at least one championship from each Grand Slam
tournament.
"I won't watch," Federer said, "but I hope he
wins."
Saturday's play was to conclude later under the lights, with
defending champion Kim Clijsters taking a 20-match winning streak at the U.S.
Open into the women's final against Wimbledon runner-up Vera Zvonareva.
Federer's 3-hour, 44-minute loss to Djokovic was far more
entertaining than the day's first semifinal.
Nadal dominated with his serve again, holding 13 of 14 times
Saturday, making him 89 of 91 for the tournament.
"After a lot of work," said Nadal, who hasn't
dropped a set these two weeks, "I am here in the final."
He lost in the semifinals in New York each of the past two
years. In 2008, he lost to Andy Murray, and now says he was wiped out mentally
after a long, if successful, summer that included a gold medal at the Beijing
Olympics. In 2009, he lost to eventual champion Juan Martin del Potro, while
dealing with achy knees and a torn abdominal muscle.
"Well, it's another step, I think, in my career, so for
sure it's a very important victory for me," Nadal said. "To be in the
final of the last Grand Slam of the year is something new, because I always arrived
here with problems."
Not this year. He took three weeks off after Wimbledon -
skipping Spain's Davis Cup quarterfinal - to rest and get treatment on the
knees that bothered him so much of last season and the beginning of this
season.
"Tough to say who is better than Rafa," Youzhny
said. "I mean, he's No. 1 and he played really good tennis."
On a day when the wind that has plagued the tournament
finally eased up, Djokovic managed to be barely enough better than Federer.
Djokovic is always rather demonstrative, and Saturday was no
different. After losing one point, he whacked himself in the head a few times
with his racket. After another, he pounded his leg with the racket. And after
several others, he would put his hands on his hips and shake his head.
But Djokovic never gave up, even after getting broken at
love in the next-to-last game of the first set, then losing serve in the last
game of the third. Instead, he kept coming up ways to fluster Federer. Djokovic
is generally regarded as one of the game's best returners, which forced Federer
to go for more, and that in turn led to problems.
After putting in an average of 61 percent of first serves in
the tournament, Federer only was at 53 percent Saturday. Djokovic broke serve
twice in the second set - en route to handing Federer his first 6-1 loss of a
set at the U.S. Open since a 2001 defeat against Andre Agassi - and twice more
in the fourth.
Djokovic also showed off tremendous defensive skills,
sliding into shots the way he would with red clay underfoot, his sneakers
squeaking loudly with each step.
He saved the match points while trailing 5-4 in the fifth
set and serving. He erased the first with a swinging forehand volley winner to
cap an 11-stroke point, and the second with a forehand winner, then wound up
holding for 5-all. The only service break of the fifth set would come in the
following game, when Federer missed forehands on the last two points to allow
Djokovic to go ahead 6-5.
Djokovic then served out the victory - although only after
saving one last break point. Federer let that slip by pushing a forehand long,
then set up Djokovic's first match point with a forehand into the net.
The last point went 22 strokes, with Djokovic displaying
some of the tremendous defense he used all match, until Federer sent a backhand
wide.
Djokovic held his arms up, and looked up at his guest box,
where his parents - both wearing T-shirts emblazoned with likenesses of their
son - were jumping and hugging. Djokovic stared ahead, his jaw agape, as though
even he couldn't quite believe what he accomplished.
"It's really hard to describe the feeling I have right
now," Djokovic said in an on-court interview. "I was a point from
losing this match, and now I managed to come back."
Djokovic had lost to Federer at each of the previous three
U.S. Opens, in the 2007 final and the 2008-09 semifinals. That was part of why
everyone was expecting to see the 22nd career meeting between Federer and
Nadal. They would have been the first pair of men to meet in the finals of all
four Grand Slam tournaments.
Instead, Sunday's final will have, coincidentally, the 22nd
career meeting between Djokovic and Nadal, one of whom will become a U.S. Open
champion for the first time.
"To be honest, I was just closing my eyes and hitting
forehands as fast as I can on match point. If it goes in, it goes in. If it
goes out, just another loss to Federer in the U.S. Open," Djokovic said.
"I managed to come back. I was very lucky."
