Roger Federer edges out Novak Djokovic to claim US Open final place

Roger Federer edges out Novak Djokovic to claim US Open final place

Roger Federer edged out Serbian Novak Djokovic to claim a place in the final of the US Open and keep his quest to complete a clean sweep of this year's grand slams on track.
Reigning champion Federer beat the current men's number four 7-6, 7-5, 7-5 in a hard-fought match of long rallies and tenacious returning.
Federer's consistency was matched by moments of outright brilliance at crucial times. The Swiss champion secured three match points by hitting a winning return through his legs.
The straight sets defeat was harsh on Djokovic who matched Federer for long spells but was unable to convert his opportunities and was gradually worn down.
Federer will face Argentinean Juan Martin del Potro in the final, who earlier caused an upset by beating Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.

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Juan Martin del Potro ousts Rafael Nadal in U.S. Open semifinal

The sixth-seeded Del Potro defeats the third-seeded Nadal in three sets. 'I think this is the best moment of my life,' the 20-year-old Argentinian says after his victory.

Reporting from New York - Juan Martin del Potro is 6-feet-6, all lanky arms and legs, and when he gets all those moving parts in synchronicity, the forehands bound off the 20-year-old's racket. To Rafael Nadal, it must have sounded as if he were inside a popcorn popper -- Pop, pop, pop, the tennis balls seeming to multiply as they passed Nadal over and over.Del Potro, the sixth-seeded player at the U.S. Open, dominated the third-seeded Nadal, winning a men's semifinal 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 today at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Del Potro, of Argentina, will play in his first major final Monday at 4 p.m. EDT against the winner of today's other men's semifinal between top-seeded and five-time defending champion Roger Federer and fourth-seeded and three-time semifinalist Novak Djokovic.Wearing a sleeveless black shirt, black shorts and black shoes, Del Potro looked like a stick of licorice. The power he generates from both sides, forehand and backhand, kept Nadal on the defensive.Del Potro is now 17-1 since Wimbledon, though he has never beaten either Federer or Djokovic. "This is part of my dream," he said. "I'm very close to doing it, but this moment now is so nice. I've always dreamed of this moment."Nadal, 23, who has won four French Open titles plus a Wimbledon and Australian Open championship, struggled at several stages of the tournament with a strained abdominal muscle, and three times today he bent over and clutched his side.After refusing to speak about the abdominal injury as long as he was still in the tournament, Nadal said it has been a problem since a tournament in Montreal last month."I think I had some [swelling], a strained muscle," Nadal said. "I think during the two weeks here the strain has [turned] into a little bit of a rupture."Nadal said the pain was a problem especially when he served. "I couldn't serve a little faster or change a lot of directions," he said. "I could only serve in the middle because if I served it outside, the abdominal [would] kill me."The final point was like so many. The Spaniard served, but Del Potro was able to stay in the point until he was able to jump into a forehand that landed near the line; Nadal was only able to respond to with a weak netted shot."With my right abdominal, to compete with this player, it's very difficult," Nadal told the crowd. "He's playing unbelievable."ESPN2 interviewer Darren Cahill mentioned to Del Potro that maybe many fans had hoped for a Nadal-Federer final on Monday."I'm sorry," Del Potro said. "Tomorrow I will fight until the final point for you. If I win, if I lose already I think this is the best moment of my life."

Federer overcomes Soderling to reach Open semi-final

Five-times champion Roger Federer weathered a mighty Swedish storm before beating 12th seed Robin Soderling 6-0 6-3 6-7 7-6 to reach the semi-finals of the U.S. Open Wednesday.
Gusting winds and the magic of Federer threw Soderling off course in a first set that flashed by in just 25 minutes.
Soderling won his first game of the contest to hold for 1-1 in the second and by the third set he had warmed up and fought back from 0-4 down in the tiebreak to snatch it 8-6.
The Swede, who had lost all 11 of his previous encounters against the world number one, had a set point to stretch the contest into a fifth set but Federer kept his eye on the ball to secure victory at 12.09 am local time.
Federer extended his own incredible record by reaching his 22nd consecutive grand slam semi-final and will take on fourth seed Novak Djokovic for a place in Sunday's showpiece.
(Reporting by Pritha Sarkar)

New York - Roger Federer moved closer to a sixth-straight title at the US Open by posting his 12th victory without a loss over Sweden's Robin Soderling.
The Swiss top seed produced a 6-0, 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (8-6) quarter-final victory Wednesday in gusty evening conditions. Soderling won his second career set against Federer in 30 played.
It was the third time this season that Federer beat Soderling at a Grand Slam tournament. Federer won the French Open at the number 12 player's expense and also beat him at Wimbledon. Soderling is one of four players whom the world number one has beaten at least 10 times.
Federer had to fight hard in the last two sets. He finished with 28 aces and four breaks of the Swede.
'I got off a flyer, and I'm happy I got through in four sets,' Federer said. 'It was a bit too easy at the start, but it's a huge relief to come through.'
Federer has now won 39-straight matches in New York dating to the 2003 fourth round against David Nalbandian, and the win marked Federer's 124th in a row over players ranked outside the top five.
He is to play in his 22nd Grand Slam semi-final in succession in what is to be a rerun of the 2007 final when he faces Serb Novak Djokovic, who reached his third-straight Flushing Meadows semi by beating injured Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (7-2), 1-6, 7-5, 6-2.
The 10th-seeded Spaniard was treated on court several times for abdominal muscle problems.
'Mentally, [it] was very important for me to overcome today's challenge and to be able to reach the semi-finals for the first time in the Grand Slams in 2009,' fourth seed Djokovic said. 'I feel kind of a relief.
'I hope I just can continue playing well and challenge Federer.'
Djokovic had a lapse in the second set after squeezing through an opener lasting the better part of an hour.
But once the Serb took control, there was little that January's Australian Open semi-finalist Verdasco could do to reverse the damage.
Djokovic produced 10 aces and broke two of his opponent's last three serves to go through with a fighting effort. Djokovic improved to 20-4 at the venue while Verdasco stands 16-7.
On the women's side, Yanina Wickmayer set up an all-teenage semi- final at the top of the draw as she defeated Kateryna Bondarenko 7-5, 6-4 in their quarter-final.
She is to face a big test against 19-year-old Dane Caroline Wozniacki, who ended the Cinderella run of fellow teen Melanie Oudin 6-2, 6-2.
'It was really a tough match for me against Melanie,' the winner said. 'She's had such a great run, such an amazing tournament.
'I knew how I was going to feel to be out there with the crowd, but I just used the energy and tried to convert it into some good tennis.'
Both teens were playing in a major quarter-final for the first time. Wozniacki is the first Scandinavian woman to reach the last four in New York. She has won 61 matches this season.
'Believing was my key thing going into these matches and knowing that I could compete with these women and beat them,' said Oudin, who knocked out three Russian opponents in succession and spent more than nine hours on court heading into the quarters.
Wickmayer achieved her unexpected placing in only her second main- draw appearance at Flushing Meadows and was poised for another possible breakthrough.
'Everything was getting together,' she said. 'I've been feeling really strong, and mentally, I've been always trying to stay calm and stay aggressive at the same time. That's one of the keys for me.'

Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic advance at US Open

Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic advance at US OpenRead

The opening match at Louis Armstrong Stadium Saturday did two very different things for the players involved. For Novak Djokovic, the No. 4 seed, it kept alive his quest for his first U.S. Open title. For Jesse Witten, ranked 276th, just being there rekindled his desire - not to mention his ability - to continue playing the sport.
"It makes me want to keep playing," Witten said, but even more importantly, "it gives me some money to keep playing. Now I can afford it for the rest of the year, at least."
This was a match between two players who work in the same business but whose professional lives bear virtually no resemblance - although as Djokovic admitted, their skill levels were barely distinguishable Saturday the end, thanks largely to a couple of faulty service games from Witten at the most pivotal times, Djokovic survived in four sets that took nearly 3-1/2 ours, 6-7 (2), 6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-4.

So it's on to the round of 16 for Djokovic, where he'll face 15th-seeded Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic. For Witten, it's on to Tulsa, where he'll recede back onto the challenger circuit and leave behind the packed house that was chanting his name throughout the morning. The U.S. Open ride is over for him and all the college buddies from Kentucky who had been crashing on his hotel room floor this week.
And what will he miss most about the U.S. Open?
"They do the laundry every day," Witten said. "It's really nice."
Witten, 26, won five qualifying matches in five days just to earn a spot in the main draw; the day before qualifying began, Nike cut him from its sponsorship rolls. In his postmatch press conference Saturday someone asked whose logo Witten was now wearing. "This? This is just a white T-shirt," he said. "I bought this, I think it was like 10 bucks. It's comfortable."
ROGER THAT: Five-time defending champ Roger Federer made a mess of the first set but cleaned up from there against Lleyton Hewitt, winning 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 in the day's first match at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Hitting shots off his racket frame and spraying them everywhere, Federer, serving with a 4-2, 40-love lead, turned it into a lost first set with a whopping total of 23 unforced errors. But he smoothed it out to beat Hewitt for the 14th straight time and up his Open win streak to 37 matches.

Americans routed at US Open, Federer on form

Americans routed at US Open, Federer on form

It was a bleak day for US tennis on Monday as for the first time in the 41-year Open era no American made it into the quarter-finals of the men's singles.
The last to fall was giant John Isner, who was toppled by Spain's Fernando Verdasco 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.
It means that the home winless streak will stretch to six years, making it the worst for American men since the Open era started with a win for Arthur Ashe in 1968.
Top seed and defending champion Roger Federer, meanwhile, moved a step closer to a record-equalling sixth straight title with a routine 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 win over outclassed Tommy Robredo of Spain.
In the last eight, he will play the man be beat in Paris to end his French Open jinx, Robin Soderling, who moved on when Nikolay Davydenko abandoned with a thigh strain when trailing 7-5, 3-6, 6-2.
Verdasco will go up against fourth seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia who eased past Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 in a disappointing night-time session match on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court.
Isner, at 6 foot 9 inches (2.03m) the second-tallest player in world tennis, in the previous round had ended the hopes of Andy Roddick, who had been regarded as the best American hope of ending a home winless drought dating back to 2003. Roddick himself was the winner on that occasion
But Isner found in Verdasco a very different prospect with the match an exercise in contrasts between the towering American who relies on his big serve and staccato rallies and the tough Spaniard, more accustomed to grinding it out from the baseline.
Isner grabbed a one set lead with two breaks to one, but he was gradually worn down by the relentless pressure applied by Verdasco and when his serve started to waiver midway through the third set there could only be one winner.
"We got a lot of people to the round of 32 then I played Andy and one of us moved on, But after that we didn't do too well. But we had tough draws," Isner said.
"I wanted to go further, but I just got outplayed today. It was a good tournament and I can build on this for the rest of the year."
Verdasco, a semi finalist at the Australian Open in January, was apologetic for ending American interest in the tournament at such an early stage.
"Sorry to beat the last one (American)," Verdasco told the crowd on the Louis Armstrong Stadium court. "You can support me now if you want."
Federer edged a tight first set against Robredo and turned on the turbo to race away for a comprehensive win in 1 hour 48 minutes.
The Spaniard, losing for a ninth straight time to the world No.1 in seven years, admitted he had been helpless to halt the assault.
"When he saw that he was a set up, he started hitting it harder. Then the match goes easy for him," he said. "Maybe it's too easy for him, the tennis, so he can even laugh."
The 28-year-old Swiss star is bidding to become the first player since American Bill Tilden in 1925 to win six straight US Open crowns.
He also would make it three out of four Grand Slam titles this year, and for the fourth time in his career, and take his career haul to 16, two clear of second-best Pete Sampras.
Turning to his last eight clash with Soderling, Federer said he expected a tough test even though he had won all 11 previous matches between the two.
"It seems like he's on a good run again. I think obviously of the French Open final, which was a great one for me, a great tournament. He's been able to stay strong.
"I hope I can play well because it's always kind of close with him. He's a tough player."

Serena Williams Cruises Into Quarterfinals

This was Serena Williams near her sharpest on Sunday morning, punishing another overmatched opponent with powerful ground strokes and serves shot from her cannon of a tennis racket.



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Williams was in typical, dominating form in her fourth-round match against Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia. Williams rolled into the quarterfinals with an easy 6-2, 6-0 triumph in front of a half-filled Arthur Ashe Stadium.
She improved to 22-1 in Grand Slam singles matches this season, an incredible stretch, even by Williams’s lofty standards. She won at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, losing only in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros, or the talk of this tournament would be about Williams playing for a calendar Grand Slam.
Williams entered the United States Open as the defending champion and favorite, even as the No. 2 seed behind top-seeded Dinara Safina, who was eliminated on Saturday night by Petra Kvitova. In four matches, Williams has yet to drop a set here.
By beating Hantuchova, Williams moved one victory from a potential star-studded semifinal with her sister, Venus, who plays on Ashe later this afternoon against Kim Clijsters. (The sisters also have a doubles match later today.)
The sisters remain comfortable on these grounds, which serve as something close to their family’s second home. It was here where the sisters met in a Grand Slam final for the first time, in 2001. Here where they won five United States Open titles. Here where Serena won her first Grand Slam singles championship, a full 10 years ago, more evidence of prolonged Williams sisters dominance.
On Saturday, tennis fans witnessed their share of upsets here. Young Melanie Oudin toppled Maria Sharapova in three sets, before John Isner served his way past fifth-seeded Andy Roddick in the nightcap.
Williams made sure early Sunday that the trend would not continue. Hantuchova played to a 2-2 draw in the first set, before Williams took over, winning what seemed like every point and the next 10 games to close it out.
The run started with Williams serving at 2-2, and she won that game by booming three straight aces. Williams rushed the net and smacked a backhand volley to set up her first break point in the next game, and from there, the match was decidedly one-sided.
This was not surprising given that Williams led the series between the players, 7-1, entering the match on Sunday. The last and only time Hantuchova topped Williams was back in 2006 at the Australian Open.

Andy Roddick loses in five-set tiebreaker to fellow American Isner

Top-ranked American Andy Roddick, among the 2009 U.S. Open championship favorites six years after he won the tournament, Saturday night was sent packing by third-year pro John Isner in another late grapple in the Apple of the sort that have come to define the Open.
Isner, the 6-9 former University of Georgia all-American, was tiring badly as the day-session match strained toward its 9:23 p.m. finish, almost 2 1/2 hours after the Open's night session was supposed to start.

But Isner still was calm, and he still was very tall, right to the end - a factor Roddick judged to be key in Isner's 7-6 (3), 6-3, 3-6, 5-7, 7-6 (5) third-round victory.
"Obviously, hands down, biggest win of my career," Isner said. "Nothing even compares. I know I can really do some damage here now."
They wrestled each other for three hours and 51 minutes on virtually even terms, even though Roddick, at No. 5 ranked 50 places higher than Isner, was eyebrow deep in trouble after losing the first two sets.
Ultimately, Roddick would lose his serve only one time - and Isner only twice - but "there's a lot that's out of your hands with the way he plays," Roddick said.
"You can't teach 6-9. So it's not like the majority of matches that you play. Bottom line for the entire match is that he played great in the breakers; he rolled the dice . . . It's a tough one to lose, especially after coming back all the way."
Isner pressed Roddick not only with his blowtorch serve - he hit 38 aces to Roddick's 20 - but also with his looming presence. His 67 trips to the net, from whence he scored 42 winners, virtually blocked Roddick's view of the court, leaving him nowhere to go with the ball. Roddick, by contrast, scored on 13 of 27 net attacks.
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"I don't know what the deal is now," the 6-2 Roddick said. "I was actually kind of tall when I first came on tour. That's just not close to the case anymore. It's not like I'm giving up an inch. I'm giving up a good five inches to the majority of my opponents this summer."
Still, Roddick used his noticeably improved fitness to hang around, and serving at 4-5, 30-40 in the fourth set, saved the first of four match points against him by striking an ace. Isner then hit a patch of sketchy play, spraying his forehand, allowing Roddick an 11th game break, and Roddick quickly served out the set and triggered a "Rod-dick! Rod-dick! Rod-dick!" chant among the thoroughly involved Arthur Ashe Stadium fans.
Isner, whose first Ashe Stadium appearance came two years ago when he took a set off Roger Federer in a third-round match just two months after his final college match, began to stroll ever slower between points, obviously wearing down physically. But the howitzer serves kept coming right through the fifth-set tiebreaker.
When Isner got a mini-break to go up 4-2 with a sharp cross-court backhand pass, the end was very near. And a young new American player - Isner is 24 - was in the tennis spotlight.
"I'm happy for him," Roddick said. "I'm mad, obviously, that it came at my expense. It wasn't about executing or how well I was hitting the ball. But, at this point, that doesn't make it better or easier, considering I'm out."