Sat Sep 6 14:23:30 2008

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Federer rolls into another U.S. Open final

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Flushing Meadows, NY (Sports Network) - Roger Federer continued his dominance at the U.S. Open Saturday, as he outlasted Novak Djokovic and kept alive his chances for a fifth straight title.

The second-seeded and reigning four-time champion Federer downed the third- seeded Novak Djokovic 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 in a semifinal that was moved up an hour to 11 a.m. (et) because of Tropical Storm Hanna's imminent arrival.

The other semifinal, between top-ranked Rafael Nadal and sixth-seeded Andy Murray, was moved to Louis Armstrong court and started during the Federer/Djokovic match, in order to finish up before Hanna and its torrential rain reached the area.

The win, in a rematch of last year's U.S. Open final, was Federer's 33rd straight at Flushing Meadows, and gave him a chance to pick up his 13th Grand Slam title on Sunday. The 27-year-old Swiss didn't seem to mind the earlier start, as he ripped through the first set in a little more than 20 minutes.

The 21-year-old Serbian Djokovic made a match of it when he took the second set, and had his chances in the third set. Federer, though, rallied back to win the third set, and took the fourth with relative ease as he moved to 7-2 lifetime against the Australian Open champion Djokovic.

The other match is still going on at Louis Armstrong court. Nadal is a perfect 5-0 lifetime against Murray, including 3-0 already this year. The Spaniard, who topped the Scotsman in Hamburg, Wimbledon and Toronto earlier in the season, is 3-0 versus the 21-year-old Murray on hardcourts over the last two years.

Murray is appearing in his first-ever major semifinal, while Nadal is performing in his first career U.S. Open semi at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

The five-time major titlist Nadal is a brilliant 75-8 this season, including a tour-high eight titles, while Murray is 40-13 with three championships.

The 22-year-old Nadal is the reigning Wimbledon, four-time French Open and Olympic champion. He's trying to become only the fourth man in the Open Era (since 1968) to win three straight Grand Slam events, joining Rod Laver, Pete Sampras and Federer, who has done it twice.