Federer still has fight left

Roger Federer took a leaf out of Mark Twain's book and issued a strong message to those waiting to write his tennis obituary that reports of his demise are greatly exaggerated.

Roger Federer embraces Novak Djokovic after their semi-final clash.
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Roger Federer took a leaf out of Mark Twain's book yesterday and issued a strong message to those waiting to write his tennis obituary that reports of his demise are greatly exaggerated. The Swiss maestro is just one match away from confounding his critics and winning yet another grand slam title - his 13th - after he produced one of his best displays of an unproductive year to deal with the world No 3 Novak Djokovic and qualify for his fifth successive US Open final. Having won the previous four - the last of them against Djokovic a year ago - Federer is on a 34-match winning streak on the hard courts of Flushing Meadows and is now determined to emulate his tremendous achievement of winning five straight titles at Wimbledon, where he was finally dethroned by Rafael Nadal in July. He and Nadal also contested the final at the French Open a month earlier - Nadal humiliating Federer that day on the red clay - but there were considerable doubts last night that Nadal, the new world No 1, will be on the opposite side of the net in Arthur Ashe Stadium for today's delayed final. Nadal was probably glad to be sent hurrying to the locker room midway through his semi-final against Andy Murray as he trailed the inspired Scotsman by two sets, although he was a break up in the third. Weather permitting, they were due to resume yesterday afternoon - early this morning in the UAE - to contest the right to take on Federer. The predicted weather interruptions have worked significantly in favour of Federer, who was able to recharge his batteries for an extra day after his 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 conquest of Djokovic. Federer was delighted to have come through a demanding encounter with an opponent who had complained of fatigue earlier in the week after battling through two successive five-setters. Federer would have swapped places with Djokovic in the world rankings if he had lost. "I always knew it was going to be difficult because Novak has been playing very well on hard courts for the last 18 months," he said. Federer's confidence going into the final is probably higher than at any time during this frustrating year which has so far yielded only two titles from 14 tournaments. "I definitely had moments during this match where I thought 'this is how I would like to play every time'," he said. "Everything was in good shape: half-volleys, passing shots, serving, putting the pressure on, playing the wind and using it to my advantage. "All of those things. So it was very nice to get that feeling back." The key to a welcome morale-boosting victory for Federer was the third set - "I think I broke his will as well when I got that set" - to take a 2-1 set lead. Djokovic did not dispute that as he came to terms with his disappointment. "Overall, it's been a very exhausting tournament mentally and physically for me ," he said. "Roger deserved to win but I was just a little disappointed from my side that I wasn't fit enough to give him a challenge." At the start of this year, this was regarded as the tournament where Federer would break Pete Sampras's record of 14 grand slams. He remains two behind the American after his failures in Melbourne and London - he was always second favourite to Nadal in Paris - but has not given up hope. "The Pete thing is obviously still very much alive and everything is possible," he added. "But at the moment I'd like to focus on winning five in a row here. "If I win, it's great. I'm back in the race and things aren't that bad like everybody's saying." wjohnson@thenational.ae