Rafael Nadal into his first U.S. Open final

 It's a 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 win for Nadal, whose only blemish today was having his serve broken for the second time in the entire tournament. That came at 4-3 in the third set and Mikhail Youzhny had his only ray of hope all day; Nadal snuffed that out by breaking Youzhny right back and closing the match out with a couple of service winners.

Nadal is looking for his first Open and ninth Grand Slam title; if he wins tomorrow, he'd become just the seventh man to win a career Grand Slam. It would also be his third Slam of the year and cement his top ranking. Rod Laver, who won the Grand Slam in 1969, is the last man to win even three of the four Slams in a single year

"It's a dream, to play here in the biggest center court in the world," Nadal said on court after his win, in two hours and 13 minutes. "You make me feel like home."

In a bit, Nadal will learn his final opponent when Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic take the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium in the other men's semifinal.

The other six men to win career Slams, by the way: Roger Federer, Andre Agassi, Roy Emerson, Rod Laver, Don Budge and Fred Perry.