Third-wheel Djokovic ruins Nadal-Federer party

The U.S. Open's third wheel, Novak Djokovic, blew up the tennis world's great expectations for a Rafael Nadal-Roger Federer championship showdown in spectacular fashion late Saturday with a gripping five-set upset of Federer, the tournament's five-time winner.

Djokovic, the 23-year-old Serb so long cast in the shadow of Nadal-Federer, survived 3 hours, 44 minutes of a classic tension convention to win, 5-7, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2, 7-5.

His twist on the pre-tournament plot line ended Federer's streak of six consecutive trips to the Open championship. Nadal, in his eighth Flushing Meadows appearance, at last won a berth in the final round with a straight-sets decision over 12th-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia.

"To be honest, I haven't thought about that too much," said Djokovic, who happily added, "I'm sorry for all the ones who wanted to see Rafa and Roger in the final."

As afternoon turned to evening in the day's second semifinal, Djokovic and Federer experienced a wild ride of momentum switchbacks that including two squandered Federer match points with Djokovic serving at 4-5 in the fifth.

A put-away overhead and cross-court forehand winner allowed Djokovic to play on. Federer at last netted a backhand on the fourth game point. From 5-5, three more Federer errors - he totaled a startling 66 in the match, compared with Djokovic's 38 - led to Djokovic's service break in the next game.

Then, serving for the match amid yet more excruciating drama, Djokovic had to scramble back from a 0-30 deficit, and a 30-40 break point to at last secure the victory when Federer hit yet another forehand wide.

"It's hard to describe how I feel," Djokovic said. "Ten minutes [earlier], I was a point from losing this match. To be honest, I was just closing my eyes and hitting the forehand as hard as I could. If it goes in, it goes in. Another loss to Roger Federer . . . ?"

Federer, whose record 16 major tournament titles puts him 15 ahead of Djokovic (the 2008 Australian champ), had beaten Djokovic three consecutive years at the Open, in the 2007 final and the last two semifinals. But this time, Federer was feeling "somewhat empty at the end because you have tried everything . . .

"Can't turn back time," he said. "Obviously, you feel you left something out if you lose the match, having match point."

Djokovic said he tried to "be patient and not lose my emotions too much." And both men were nimble tactically as well as physically. But the uneven rhythm of the match caused Djokovic's body language to deteriorate in the fifth set. At least until he held service to get to 5-5, when he felt "relief."

Said Federer: "It was just a case of a tough situation to be in for both of us, and someone has to win. It's just the way it is. There's no draws in our sport. Obviously, I like to see a match like this being two winners, but one guy had to win. It won't be written that way, unfortunately."

Djokovic, acknowledging both mental and physical fatigue, brightened when informed there was rain in the forecast for Sunday. "I don't know the rituals how to invite rain," he said. But he showed new powers Saturday, and he waved both arms in a summoning gesture.