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....Full Story

Federer, Djokovic on collision course in New York?

Flushing Meadows, NY (Sports Network) - The men's semifinals will be staged Saturday at the U.S. Open, where top-seeded and three-time defending champion Roger Federer will take on fourth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko and third- seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic will tangle with 15th-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer. Three of the top-four seeds are still standing at this hardcourt fortnight.
The world No. 1 Federer is a seemingly unstoppable 9-0 lifetime against Davydenko, including a victory in this year's French Open semis. The super Swiss also topped the gritty Russian in last year's U.S. Open semifinals and is 3-0 versus Davydenko in Grand Slam action.
The 26-year-old Federer has already reached a record nine straight Grand Slam finals, going 7-2, and owns 11 major titles, including the last two Aussie Opens and the last five Wimbledon championships. His two major finals losses came at the hands of Rafael Nadal at the French Open over the last two seasons.
Federer is 26-0 at the U.S. Open since reaching the top of the ATP rankings in 2004...Full Story

Nadal, Djokovic fight to reach Wimbledon quarters

Wimbledon, England (Sports Network) - Last year's runner-up Rafael Nadal battled all the way back to win his fourth-round match Thursday and reach the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. Rising Serbian star Novak Djokovic also secured a berth in the round of eight by taking out former champion Lleyton Hewitt in a dramatic bout.
The second-seeded Nadal fought back after dropping the first two sets to defeat 14th-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2. The capable Youzhny was slowed by a back problem over the final three sets.
Nadal needed 3 hours, 5 minutes to record his comeback, which he did with the help of six service breaks. The Spaniard played a clean match by committing a mere 18 unforced errors over five sets.
The reigning three-time French Open champ Nadal was last year's Wimbledon runner-up to the great Roger Federer and lost to Youzhny in the 2006 U.S. Open quarters.
Nadal's quarterfinal opponent on Friday will be seventh-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych, who topped 19th-seeded Swedish veteran Jonas Bjorkman 6-4, 6-0, 6-7 (6-8), 6-0.
Berdych fired 15 aces at the ageless Bjorkman, who failed to break his Czech counterpart's serve while Berdych piled up a whopping seven breaks of the Swede. Berdych also struck 31 more winners (48-17) than the overmatched Bjorkman.
The 35-year-old Bjorkman reached the Wimbledon semis last year, only to be destroyed by the amazing Federer.
The 6-foot-5 Berdych will now appear in his first-ever Grand Slam quarterfinal.
A fourth-seeded Djokovic fought his way into the quarters by holding off a 16th-seeded Hewitt 7-6 (10-8), 7-6 (7-2), 4-6, 7-6 (7-5).
Djokovic moved on by converting on his third match point against the gritty Hewitt. The Serb needed 4 hours, 12 minutes to dismiss Hewitt, who withstood a barrage of 56 winners, including 17 aces, from Djokovic, who also piled up 49 unforced errors on Day 10.
The former world No. 1 Hewitt captured the second of his two Grand Slam event titles here Wimbledon in 2002.
Djokovic reached the French Open semifinals last month, only to lose to the reigning king of clay Nadal.
Also advancing to the quarters was 10th-seeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, who upended sixth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5), 6-3. The 2006 Australian Open finalist Baghdatis reached the Wimbledon semis last season.
Baghdatis advanced in 2 hours, 9 minutes, as he broke Davydenko's serve six times while the Russian piled up 39 unforced errors.