Fiesty Djokovic out to spoil Federer-Nadal dream final

There’s a buzz around the US Open about the possibility of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer playing in Sunday’s final at the only Grand Slam event where they have never met in the championship match.

World number one Nadal is trying to complete a career Slam sweep by winning his first title on the Flushing Meadows hardcourts. Federer wants to reclaim the throne he lost last year when his five-year reign was ended.

The rivalry is epic. The matchup would be magical. Even Serbian third seed Novak Djokovic can feel how much fans want it, although he will do everything in his power to prevent them from seeing ithappen.

“As the two best players in the world, they are the most dominant in the last five or six years, biggest favourites to get into the finals, and I’m sure that the crowd wants them in the finals,” Djokovic said.

“But I will try not to make that happen.”

Djokovic booked a berth opposite Swiss second seed Federer in tomorrow’s US Open semi-finals by ousting French 17th seed Gael Monfils 7-6 (7/2), 6-1, 6-2 while Federer beat Swedish fifth seed Robin Soderling 6-4, 6-4, 7-5.

Federer, a 16-time Grand Slam champion seeking his seventh US Open final in a row, and Nadal were the only players to reach the quarter-finals without dropping a set, the Spaniard making it without surrendering a service break.

“We’ve played in all the other majors (finals) so this one is missing. I hope we can do it this year,” Federer said two days before the US Open began. “I think it would be great.”

That leaves Djokovic as the major spoiler to a Federer-Nadal final and the Serb star likes his odds against Federer more than ever now.

“Just maybe experience-wise in my case I feel better now,” Djokovic said. “Physically I feel better than I did last year. I feel stronger, faster on the court.”

In the women’s draw, top seed Caroline Wozniacki will play Vera Zvonareva of Russia in today’s semi-finals after both battled their way through wind-swept last eight games on Wednesday.

Wozniacki, a 20-year-old Dane who was runner-up in Flushing Meadows last year and who has cemented her position as a top player this year, defeated Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 6-2, 7-5.

Zvonareva, a temperamental 26-year-old Russian who mastered her emotions this year to reach the Wimbledon final in July, defeated Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 6-3, 7-5.

The other semi-final, which was decided on Tuesday, will send defending champion and second seed Kim Clijsters of Belgium against third seed Venus Williams of the United States.

The blustery conditions, which have buffeted the Flushing Meadows complex since Hurricane Earl swept past off Long Island at the weekend, seemed to worsen on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court, the biggest purpose-built tennis arena in the world.

“It was really difficult to play today,” the Dane said.

“It was very windy, and from one side you barely hit it and the ball was flying, and from the other side you had to really hit through because the ball didn’t go anywhere.”