Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic through to U.S. Open final again

The world's top two players, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, will face each other in the U.S. Open final -- in a repeat of last year's Flushing Meadows showdown won by the Spaniard in four sets.

World number one Djokovic, who has only lost twice this year -- winning both the Australian Open and Wimbledon along the way -- produced a stunning against-the-odds comeback to defeat five-time champion Roger Federer 6-7 (7-9) 4-6 6-3 6-2 7-5. And he will play defending champion Nadal in the final, after the second seed wore down British fourth seed Andy Murray 6-4 6-2 3-6 6-2. One of Djokovic's defeats this year came against Federer in the French Open last four, and the Serb looked to be heading for the exit against the five-time New York champion once again, as he lost the first two sets.

But Djokovic dug deep to win the next three sets, saving two match points in the fifth set in the process. "It was definitely the biggest win this year," an ecstatic Djokovic said on court immediately following his victory. "One of the biggest wins of my career." But Djokovic looked shell-shocked after Federer had raced in to a two set lead. After succumbing to a first set tie breaker at a partisan Flushing Meadows, Federer broke Djokovic twice in the second.

With the crowd behind Federer, Djokovic cut a dejected figure going into the third but an early break put the pressure on the Swiss. Suddenly Djokovic was reborn and he quickly leveled the match two sets all. Yet his comeback appeared to be in vain. Federer made a crucial break at 4-3 in the final set, and with two match points at 40-15 it looked like the Swiss would be competing in the final. The turning point was an incredible return from Djokovic to save match point. The Serb went on to break back and, more importantly, win over the partisan crowd with his display of sheer determination.

The psychological ball was now in Djokovic's court, who saw out the last four games to snatch an unlikely win. Such was the turn around in fortunes with the spectators he even made time to dance with the crowd at the end. Djokovic has never won the U.S. Open, losing to both Federer and Nadal in his two previous final appearances. However, he has beaten Nadal every time the two have faced each other this season, including the final of Wimbledon, and will be confident of overturning his defeat here to the Spaniard in 2010.
Nadal, who will be playing in his 14th grand slam final, will have crowd support on his side in Monday's final.

He said: "I have played Novak five times this year, all in finals, and lost them all. I hope to have better luck this time and I hope New York will help me." Murray, who appeared to be troubled by a back complaint in the final set, committed 55 unforced errors to Nadal's 23, and his defeat means he is still waiting for a grand slam title despite reaching the semifinals of all four major events in 2011.