Djokovic Beats Ferrer, Heads for Final

Defending champ 'a different player' when match resumed today
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Sep 9, 2012 3:51 PM CDT
Djokovic Beats Ferrer, Heads for Final
Serbia's Novak Djokovic returns a shot to Spain's David Ferrer during a semifinal match at the 2012 US Open tennis tournament, Saturday, Sept. 8, 2012, in New York.   (Darron Cummings)

The weather was much better at the US Open today. So was Novak Djokovic. Under a cloudless blue sky, in only a hint of wind, defending champion Djokovic got his game into high gear and reached his third consecutive final at Flushing Meadows by beating fourth-seeded David Ferrer of Spain 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in a match suspended a day earlier. "I was a different player," the second-seeded Djokovic said. "I felt much more comfortable on the court today than I did yesterday, (when) obviously the conditions were more brutal."

Ferrer led a shaky Djokovic 5-2 in the semifinal's opening set yesterday, when wind was whipping at more than 20mph and play was halted because of an impending rainstorm. When they resumed about 18 hours later, Ferrer held serve to take that set—and then Djokovic quickly took control, using the brand of defense-to-offense baseline excellence that has carried the Serb to four of the past seven Grand Slam titles. "We were all praying for less wind today," Djokovic said. "He handled the wind much better than I did." (More US Open Tennis stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X