Sport

Federer overpowers Djokovic to enter final

NEW YORK: Roger Federer moved within one victory of his fifth consecutive U.S. Open title on Saturday, firing 20 aces to overpower Serbian third seed Novak Djokovic 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2.

But the Swiss superstar will have to wait until Monday to try and capture his 13th Grand Slam title and move within one of the all-time record total of Pete Sampras.

In a rematch of last year’s final, second seed Federer stretched his U.S. Open win streak to 33 matches but rain stopped the other semifinal between World No. 1 Rafael Nadal and British sixth seed Andy Murray.

The 21-year-old Scotsman led 6-2, 7-6(5), 2-3 when his first Slam semifinal was halted until Sunday afternoon, pushing the men’s final to Monday afternoon, the first time since 1987 that the Grand Slam event will end late.

“Winning here at the Open would mean a hell of a lot to me,” Federer said.

“At the moment the focus is to defend my title and get my fifth. The Pete thing is very much alive and everything is possible, but I would like to focus on the five in a row right now.”

Olympic champion Nadal defeated Federer in this year’s French Open and Wimbledon finals and the Spanish left-hander replaced him atop the rankings last month, ending a Federer reign of 237 weeks.

“If I win it’s great and I’m back in the race and things aren’t so bad like everyone is saying,” Federer said. “A win would be huge.”

By reaching his 17th Slam final, Federer matched Rod Laver for third on the all-time list, one behind Sampras and two shy of Ivan Lendl’s record.

Federer is trying to become the first man to win two Slam events five times in a row, having turned the trick last year at Wimbledon, and would be the first man since Bill Tilden in 1924 to win the U.S. title five times in a row.

Federer connected on 76 per cent of his first saves and pulled out an ace when he desperately needed it on several key points.

“My serve got me out of trouble a few times,” Federer said. “It has been hard all week to break against the wind. It makes quite a difference in how you construct points. I’ve concentrated quite a bit on my serve and it has helped.”

Andy Murray’s bid to reach his first Grand Slam final was thwarted by the weather on Saturday when his U.S. Open semifinal against Rafael Nadal was halted by rain with the Briton leading 6-2, 7-6, 2-3.

With the remnants of Tropical Storm Hanna expected to roll through the New York area for the rest of the day, play was suspended for the day and the match will resume on Sunday, weather permitting.

Murray, serving powerfully and dominating the Spaniard from the baseline with his deep groundstrokes, swept through the first set in just over half an hour before clinching the second 7-5 in a tiebreak.

The Scot, competing for the first time in the last four at a Grand Slam, had ripped 44 winners past Nadal, including 17 aces, when their match was forced into a second day.

Left-hander Nadal, the French Open and Wimbledon champion, has not lost to the Scot in five previous meetings but, like his opponent, was competing in his first U.S. Open semifinal.

Murray broke Nadal in the third game of the match when the Spaniard hit a forehand long and again in the seventh with a forehand pass down the line to lead 5-2.

With threatening rain clouds looming, the 21-year-old Briton served out to wrap up the first set in 33 minutes after Nadal netted a backhand pass. It was the first time the Scot had won a set against Nadal since their first encounter at the 2007 Australian Open. — Agencies

THE RESULTS

Prefix denotes seeding

Men: Singles semifinals: 2-Roger Federer (Sui) bt 3-Novak Djokovic (Srb) 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2; 6-Andy Murray (GBr) leads 1-Rafael Nadal (Esp) 6-2, 7-6(5), 2-3.

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