Tennis:Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal will meet in the US Open final for the second year in a row after winning their semi-finals on a day of unrelenting drama and precision tennis at Flushing Meadows.
Djokovic showed why he is the hottest player in the game right now when he saved two match points to roar back from the brink of defeat and beat Roger Federer in a five-set thriller that whipped the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd into a frenzy of excitement.
Then Nadal, his form and confidence soaring with each match he plays, powered past Andy Murray 6-4 6-2 3-6 6-2 and set up a mouthwatering rematch between the top two players in the world.
Nadal beat Djokovic 12 months ago to complete his collection of grand slam titles but the Serbian has had his measure this year.
"I've lost my last five matches against him, five finals," Nadal said. "He's obviously the favourite for the final, and I know I have to do something better than those other matches to try and change the situation."
For Djokovic, who has already won two grand slam titles this year, at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, there was just relief that he made the final after he survived a pulsating contest with Federer that could have gone either way.
Federer won the first two sets then regained his composure to lead 5-3 in the fifth. The Swiss maestro, a five-time champion at Flushing Meadows served for the match and had two match points, but Djokovic saved them both and won the last four games to complete an incredible comeback.
"It's a sport where one wins, one loses," Djokovic said. "We have a saying, 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger."
In the women’s semi-finals, Caroline Wozniacki was left awe-struck by the lethal serves and power game of Serena Williams, as the American blew away the world number one in straight sets.
Wozniacki has consistently defended her status as the women's top-ranked player without a grand slam title, but the manner of her 6-2 6-4 semi-final rout at Arthur Ashe stadium is unlikely to stifle the debate.
"Serena just played very, very well today," the 21-year-old
Wozniacki said after her 86-minute capitulation. "Especially that serve was just a killer. It's definitely not fun returning those first serves.
"I was just looking and I was hoping that they were going to go out, because I felt like I couldn't do too much."
Williams will now meet Sam Stosur after the Australian had earlier earned her place in the championship decider with a 6-3 2-6 6-2 win over unseeded German Angelique Kerber.