Roger Federer moved within one victory of his fourth-straight US Open title, beating No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko 7-5, 6-1, 7-5 on Saturday to stretch his winning streak at Flushing Meadows to 26 matches.
Federer, who will be seeking to become the first man to win four consecutive US championships since Bill Tilden in 1925, will face No. 3 Novak Djokovic, who earlier on Saturday overcame the late summer heat and humidity of New York City to beat 15th-seeded David Ferrer 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.
"I'm always very well-prepared for the majors. I know what it takes," Federer said. "When the second week comes around, I play my best."
In yesterday's championship match, Federer was to face the only man to beat him over the past three months.
"I guess the best players of the summer are in the final," said Federer, all too aware that he lost to Djokovic at a hard-court event in Montreal early last month.
That was Djokovic's big breakthrough: He also beat Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick there, becoming the first man in 13 years to beat Nos. 1-3 in the rankings at a single tournament.
While Djokovic will be aiming for his first major title, Federer will be trying to tie Roy Emerson for second in tennis history behind Pete Sampras' 14. The Swiss will be playing in his 10 consecutive Grand Slam final.
"I need to believe in myself, because otherwise I wouldn't get the positive outcome," Djokovic said. "I don't want to go out tomorrow and try to do my best or try to perform well. No, I'll go tomorrow to try to win."
With the temperature surpassing 30?C during his semi-final, Djokovic was too spent afterward to reprise the sort of act he performed after winning in the quarter-finals, when he drew guffaws by doing spot-on imitations of Maria Sharapova and Nadal.
"Last two days, the people were more congratulating me for the impressions than for my tennis," Djokovic said.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but