Defending champion Novak Djokovic will take on third seed Stan Wawrinka in the US Open final on Sunday after both men won semi-finals in punishing conditions.
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In the US Open final Wawrinka, who has won the two grand slam finals he has contested will play Djokovic, who he beat to claim his French Open title.
“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.
But with Wawrinka saving six straight break points during one stretch in the second set, Nishikori’s legs started to go.
Her serve is a weakness: She was broken while serving for the match against Wozniacki, for example, and lost three service games in the first set alone of her quarterfinal against 2015 runner-up Roberta Vinci. Djokovic defeated the Frenchman in a four-set match although both of them struggled during the course of the game. With advantage, Wawrinka blasted a forehand that was out of Nishikori’s reach.
“I just tried to little by little play a little bit better, a little bit faster, a little bit heavier”, Wawrinka said.
He appeared to be suffering for his four-hour quarter-final win over Andy Murray but he recovered from 4-1 down in the third.
“To play Novak again it will be very special”, he said. Djokovic will be attempting to win his 13 Grand Slam singles title, Wawrinka his third. “But I have the confidence in myself that when I play my best level, I can beat him”. “I thought at times that he was, you know, maybe behaving a little bit, for some terms and judgements, unacceptable”.
Djokovic admitted he was “completely caught off guard” when Monfils, down 0-5 in the first in 15 minutes, stood lackadaisically in the court and began chipping the ball back.
“Definitely I try to get in his head, try to create something new for him”, explained Monfils. “He also started to get exhausted a little bit. That’s when I started to get aggressive”.
The 26-year-old sixth seed ran out of energy against third seed Stan Wawrinka, falling 6-4, 7-5, 6-4, 6-2 on a hot, humid day at Flushing Meadows. Wawrinka sealed the victory two games later, taking another late break and the match as Nishikori dumped a forehand into the net.
In contrast to Djokovic – who had a walkover and two matches shortened when opponents retired – Wawrinka has endured an arduous path to the title match, saving a match point in a fourth-set tiebreaker of a third-round victory over Briton Dan Evans.
“He was playing much better the last couple sets”.
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“I watch the finals here so many times Roger, Novak, Rafa (Nadal) they are wonderful champions and to be play against Novak, a year ago at the French, we play so many matches at a grand slam so to play him is something special”. He hit 10 aces, got 62 percent of his first serves in and won 76 percent of his first serves.
