NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Roger Federer conjured a brilliant winner from between his legs to bring up match point as he beat Novak Djokovic 7-6 7-5 7-5 in the semi-finals yesterday to move within one win of a sixth successive U.S. Open crown.
Top-seeded Federer will face 20-year-old Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, the sixth seed, who reached his first grand slam final by routing Spain’s Rafael Nadal 6-2 6-2 6-2.
French Open and Wimbledon champion Federer, aiming to equal American Bill Tilden’s feat of six U.S. titles in a row in the 1920s, won the first-set tiebreaker 7-3 by winning five of the last six points.
The second set was decided by a service break in the last game when the 28-year-old Swiss cashed in his third set point with a forehand winner.
He earned triple match point in the entertaining tussle, by racing to the baseline to retrieve a lob from the fourth-seeded Serb and, with his back to the net, whacked a low, crosscourt winner past a stunned Djokovic.
A forehand serve return winner on the next point ended the two-hour 34-minute match.
