Japan’s Kei Nishikori admitted that he felt “tired” during his US Open semi-final defeat to Stan Wawrinka in NY on Friday. Djokovic entered this match enjoying the easiest path to a major semifinal in the almost half-century of the Open era: Three of his first five foes either stopped playing or pulled out of the tournament entirely because of injuries.
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The mercurial Frenchman, however, stormed back to win six of the next seven games by adopting a much more aggressive approach, striking 14 winners to Djokovic’s five to take the third set in 41 minutes.
The Swiss has lost 19 of 23 matches against defending champion Djokovic, who beat French 10th seed Gael Monfils in his semi-final, but Wawrinka has beaten the Serb on his way to both of his grand slam titles.
Djokovic beat Federer a year ago in the major in Flushing Meadows, New York in four sets, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.
Monfils got to the last four without dropping a set but his performance in the first two sets was very poor.
Novak Djokovic advanced to his seventh US Open final beating an unpredictable Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 in the semifinals at the US Open Friday. I knew it would be tough’. The Stanimal relies on his durability, and the ability to rise up to big occasions, and he did just that by breaking back in the 4th game of the set to level at 2 games all.
Based on the head-to-head record, Sunday’s US Open men’s final between No. 1 Djokovic and No. 3 Wawrinka would seem to be a mismatch. He is 10-0 in tournament finals since 2014.
Tennis fans remember well some of the instant classics Wawrinka and Djokovic have been involved in, including their battles in the 2014 Australian Open and 2015 French Open.
Monfils took three straight games and Djokovic was against it again serving 5-3, 15-40.
“I think also he was stepping up a little more from the second set on”.
“Definitely I try to get in his head”. But you have two fine players standing in the end and that is going to be an exciting watch. “He loves to play in the big stage against big players, because that’s when he elevates his level of performance”, said 12-times slam victor Djokovic.
The Swiss, in complete contrast to Djokovic, has taken the scenic route to the final, playing 23 sets over six matches and spending 17 hours, 54 minutes on court, nearly double Djokovic’s time.
“Stan is a big-match player”, Djokovic acknowledged.
“I knew it would be really tough to beat Kei”, Wawrinka said. Yeah, I’m disappointed, but I’m really proud of myself, you know, playing four sets again with this condition, ‘ he said.
Wawrinka was match point down against Britain’s Dan Evans in the third round in NY but a kind draw has allowed him to find his stride and he will be a unsafe opponent this weekend. He walked into returns like an injured player would and gave Djokovic easy points by moving to the net inexplicably.
Djokovic added: “Both of these Grand Slam trophies that he has, he won against me on the way”. “He has that variety in his game and he can be very unsafe for everybody”.
“I had to wait and fight and make him uncomfortable”. “So it was a good win for me today”.
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If Wawrinka can bring the kind of tennis he’s played over the last two rounds, it could be a long affair on Sunday.
