September 12, 2015
NEW YORK – Five-time champion Roger Federer reached his first US Open final in six years as he flew by fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka 6-4 6-3 6-1 in the semi-finals.
September 12, 2015
NEW YORK – Five-time champion Roger Federer reached his first US Open final in six years as he flew by fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka 6-4 6-3 6-1 in the semi-finals.
Five-time winner beats compatriot Wawrinka in straight sets; Top-seed Djokovic crushes defending champion Cilic.
The second-seeded Federer, in remarkably sublime form at the age of 34, has not dropped a set in his formidable Flushing Meadows run and never let up the pressure on fifth-seeded French Open winner Wawrinka in a 92-minute demolition.
The trouncing set up a delectable one-two showdown in Sunday's final against Australian Open and Wimbledon winner Novak Djokovic, who trails Federer 21-20 head-to-head.
Federer won their last match in the August hardcourt final in Cincinnati, while Djokovic won their last slam encounter in the Wimbledon final.
The top-seeded world number one from Serbia was even faster booking a berth in his fourth grand slam final of the year with a 6-0 6-1 6-1 romp over defending champion Marin Cilic of Croatia, who was hampered by an ankle injury.
Federer, the all-time grand slam singles king with 17 titles, will be gunning to add to his record slams haul for the first time since his 2012 Wimbledon triumph.
"It's been a great tournament so far," Federer, who won five straight US crowns from 2004 and was runner-up in 2009, told the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd.
"I've tried very hard the last six years to get back in another final."
The evergreen Swiss was not broken by Wawrinka as he improved his head-to-head edge to 17-3 while avenging a quarter-finals loss to him this year at Roland Garros.
Federer improved his match record this year to 51-7 with five titles.
Meanwhile, Djokovic, playing on the same court where women's world number one Serena Williams and Romanian second seed Simona Halep were surprisingly sent packing from the tournament earlier, needed just 85 minutes to end Cilic's title defence.
The beat down was the worst ever in a US Open semi-final, the three games lost one fewer than the four Yevgeny Kafelnikov managed against Lleyton Hewitt in 2001.
With the rout, Djokovic ran his record to 14-0 against the ninth-seeded Croat and moved one win away from adding to his 2015 grand slam triumphs at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.
Courtesy: Al Jazeera
