Stan Wawrinka set up a US Open final showdown with Novak Djokovic after overcoming Kei Nishikori in the last four on Friday.
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Defending champion Djokovic beat France’s Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 to reach a seventh US Open final where he will be seeking a third major of the season and 13th of his career. He will seek his third major championship Sunday against the top-ranked Djokovic, who he defeated at Roland Garros in 2015.
Wawrinka’s arduous path to the title match included saving a match point in the third round. But the 31-year-old started to look more like a two-time major victor in his quarterfinal victory over 2009 champ Juan Martin del Potro.
The sixth-seeded Nishikori rallied to upset Andy Murray in five sets Wednesday, and he picked up where he left off at the outset of the semifinal.
Stan Wawrinka is one set from his first U.S. Open final.
“I think I should not have allowed him to come back to the match after two sets to love up and 2-love in the third”, Djokovic said.
Although Djokovic holds a 19-4 record over Wawrinka, including two victories since the Swiss player shocked him the French Open final past year, Wawrinka welcomed the chance to take him on again.
The defeat ended 26-year-old Nishikori’s hopes of improving on his runner-up finish to Marin Cilic in the 2014 final at Flushing Meadows.
Stan Wawrinka, of Switzerland, reacts after winning the third set against Kei Nishikori, of Japan, during the semifinals of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, in NY.
Wawrinka then raced into a 4-1 lead in the third but was pegged back to 4-4 by the spirited Nishikori.
No. 3 seed Stan Wawrinka and No. 6 Kei Nishikori have split the opening two sets of their U.S. Open semifinal. Nishikori was 4 of 15 on break-point chances. Down a set and a break Friday, he upped the pressure and handled the big points better, emerging with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-2 victory.
No. 1 Novak Djokovic vs.
“I am always ready when I’m happy on the court so let’s see what’s going to happen”.
“I’m really excited”, Wawrinka said. “And I try my best'”.
Monfils said his tactics were a deliberate attempt “to get inside his head”. “He got exhausted and I started to be more aggressive”. “I tried to make him run”.
Facing an opponent who occasionally played as if he had somewhere better to be, Novak Djokovic reached his 21st Grand Slam final and seventh at the U.S. Open with a freakish 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 victory over Gael Monfils on Friday.
After giving back an early break in the fourth Djokovic had treatment on his right shoulder, but he broke twice more to close out the win. He entered the match winning 92 percent during the tournament.
This felt more like a sweaty episode of “Survivor” than the men’s semifinals at the U.S. Open.
He broke Wawrinka again to open the second, but the Swiss was gradually beginning to find his range and broke back to level the set at 2-2.
Djokovic ripped his white shirt off as he dropped the third set.
Djokovic reached the final with a freaky four-set win over Gael Monfils. The 12-time major champion had triple set point while serving at 5-1, and Monfils was seemingly trying to give away the game. A quick break back and a hold at love and Wawrinka was back in charge.
“He also started to get exhausted a little bit and that’s when I started to get my game, to be aggressive”. “Our games match. He’s a great server”.
They will split $150,000 in prize money for earning the title.
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Ram and Vandeweghe also were first-time partners and eliminated defending champions Martina Hingis and Leander Paes in the second round.
