Sport World sport
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 it happen. "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 Saturday's US Open semi-finals by ousting French 17th seed Gael Monfils 7-6 (7/2), 6-1, 6-2 Wednesday while Federer beat Swedish fifth seed Robin Soderling 6-4, 6-4, 7-5.
Nadal, an eight-time Grand Slam champion who faces eighth-seeded compatriot Fernando Verdasco in a Thursday quarter-final, told a US television audience that he is playing better than in US Open semi-final runs the past two years. But Nadal also says he has to be better yet in order to lift a trophy on Sunday.
Djokovic, whose only Slam title came at the 2008 Australian Open, joined Federer, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe as the only men to reach the US Open semi-finals four years in a row since the Open Era began in 1968. Federer has a 10-5 career record against Djokovic, including victories in the 2007 US Open final and 2008 and 2009 US Open semis.
