Nole is through to his seventh straight US Open semis and 14th consecutive Grand Slam semi-final overall!
Serbia’s top seed reached the last four of the final Major event of the season after beating 21st-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-0 in two hours and 34 minutes on the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
After taking a two sets to love lead, Novak dropped his first set of the tournament but stormed back to win the fourth set 6-0 in 29 minutes.
“Every Grand Slam offers something very special, the atmosphere here in the night sessions is electric and I enjoyed it all through this evening,” the world no.1 said. “Mikhail is a great competitor and a fighter who has a tricky game. I think I played really well apart from that third set when, for some reason, I allowed him to come back into the match, started to push the ball, was being more passive allowing him to step into the court, come to the net.”
Djokovic converted seven of his 12 break point opportunities, while Youzhny capitalised on two of his 10 chances.
Match statistics: aces (5-2), double faults (1-4), winners (32-15), unforced errors (45-31), total points won (115-87).
Novak’s next opponent is no.9 seed Stanislas Wawrinka, who shocked defending champion Andy Murray in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 earlier in the day.
The 2011 titlist holds a 12-2 (7-1 on hard) ATP Head2Head advantage over the Swiss no.2.
Looking ahead to the next challenge, Djokovic said: “It is going to be a very close match against Stan. I don’t think there is a clear favourite, but I feel quite confident on the court and hopefully I can continue in the same way. I’ll come out and play my best.”
The other men’s semi-final in the bottom half of the draw will see Rafael Nadal (ESP, 2) take on Richard Gasquet (FRA, 8).
Photo: Getty Images
