Djokovic stuns Federer in semi-final

Novak Djokovic tore up the script at the US Open defeating Roger Federer in a pulsating semi-final to torpedo hopes for a dream final between the Swiss star and Rafael Nadal.

The Serb third seed saved two fifth-set match points before producing a final flourish to hand a crushing defeat to five-time former winner Federer 5-7, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2, 7-5.

Top seed Nadal had earlier won through to his first US Open final in contrasting style, coasting past Russian 12th seed Mikhail Youzhny 6-2, 6-3, 6-4.

The Federer-Djokovic match was the best yet in the tournament, swinging one way and then the other twice before it came down to who could find another gear at the culmination of the fifth set.

Federer had reached the last six finals at Flushing Meadows, winning five of them until he lost to Juan Martin del Potro last year. He had two match points on the Djokovic serve at 5-4 but could not take them.

Djokovic then broke Federer in the next game and he held his nerve to serve out for his first win over the 16-time Grand Slam winner at the US Open, having lost to him in the 2007 final and the semi-finals in 2008 and 2009.

Djokovic, whose single Grand Slam title to date came at the 2008 Australian Open, when he also beat Federer in the semi-finals, said that it had been a match he would remember for the rest of his life.

“Not just because I won against one of the best players that ever played this game but as well coming back from match points down and under the circumstances playing good and winning in the end, the thriller, you know,” Djokovic said