Federer, Djokovic to meet for U.S. Open crown

Flushing Meadows, NY (Sports Network) - Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic will play for the U.S. Open title on Sunday after each won semifinal matches on Saturday.
The top-seeded Federer posted a 7-5, 6-1, 7-5 victory over Russia's Nikolay Davydenko, while the third-seeded Djokovic beat the heat and Spain's David Ferrer, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3, in the opener of Saturday's afternoon twinbill.
Federer continued his amazing play in Grand Slam competition, reaching a final for the 10th straight time. He will try for his fourth consecutive U.S. Open title and his 12th overall Grand Slam crown.
Standing in his way is the 20-year-old Djokovic, who was the last man to beat the Swiss superstar. Federer lost to the young Serb in the final of the Montreal Masters last month.
A victory Sunday afternoon would put Federer just two Grand Slam titles behind the record of 14 set by Pete Sampras. Federer would also become the first player to win four straight U.S. Open titles since the great Bill Tilden won six in a row from 1920-25.
The 26-year-old is also bidding to claim three of the season's four major championships for the second consecutive year and third time overall. He won the Australian Open and Wimbledon crowns earlier this year and lost only in the final at the French Open.
Federer beat Davydenko for the 10th time without a loss, but had to struggle at times on Saturday.
Davydenko, who entered the match without having lost a set in the tournament, broke serve immediately. Federer got the break back in the sixth game, but failed to capitalize on four break points before finally converting.
After a trade of breaks, which became a theme, Federer held for 6-5 and broke serve again to take the first set.
Federer simply dominated the second set, before things turned bizarre.
Both players held serve to start the third set, but the next six games featured service breaks. Davydenko was bidding to make it seven in a row, and had a pair of set points against Federer's serve. He squandered both and Federer was able to hold to even the set at 5-5.
Federer then broke serve again and held at love to finish the match. He broke Davydenko's serve nine times, but had his own serve broken a surprising five times.
Davydenko has never reached a Grand Slam final, falling to 0-4 in major semis. He also lost to Federer in the French Open semis earlier this year.
Djokovic, meanwhile, became the first Serb to reach a Grand Slam final.
Ferrer, who had knocked off fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal in the fourth round, was primed for another upset after racing out to a 4-1 lead in the first set. However, Djokovic stormed back to win the final five games of the set.
The momentum carried into the second, as a break of serve gave Djokovic the early advantage. He was ahead 2-1 in the set before asking for a doctor to deal with the heat.
Following the brief delay, Ferrer surged in front by winning two straight games. Djokovic, though, regrouped and won the next three games on his way to capturing the set.
Ferrer held serve to start the third, but Djokovic won the next three games to take control and cruised to the finish.
Djokovic had 37 winners, compared to 17 for the 15th-seeded Ferrer. The 20- year-old Belgrade native also won 18 points on his 22 net approaches.
This was the third straight Grand Slam semifinal appearance for Djokovic, who had lost to Nadal in the semis at both the French Open and Wimbledon.
In addition to the Montreal final, Djokovic and Federer played twice earlier this year. Federer won a quarterfinal match in Dubai as well as a round of 16 match at the Australian Open.
Federer had won all four previous meetings with Djokovic before the Montreal match.