Federer, Roddick v Russians in US Open Semis

Federer, who holds a perfect 7-0 record against Davydenko (5-0 on hard), reached his tenth consecutive Grand Slam semifinal -- equaling Ivan Lendl's Open Era record -- after defeating James Blake in four sets on Thursday.

The top seed, who is riding a 18-match winning streak at the US Open, is bidding to become the first man since Lendl in 1987 to collect a third successive US Open title.

Last year Federer became the first man in the Open Era to win Wimbledon and the US Open back-to-back in two successive years. The Swiss is now attempting to become the first man in history to win the two titles back-to-back in three successive years. Pre-Open Era, Federer is joined by Bill Tilden and Don Budge in winning Wimbledon and the US Championships back-to-back two years in a row: Bill Tilden did so 1920-21, and Don Budge 1937-38, 1938 being the year that Budge won the Grand Slam.

Federer leads the tour for hard court wins in 2006, going 42-2 through the semifinals. He also arrived at the 2005 US Open with the best hard court record, going 38-1 going into last year?s tournament. Federer is one of only three players in the past 16 years to have entered the US Open leading the tour in hard court match wins and gone on to win the tournament. Pete Sampras achieved this feat in 1993, and Andy Roddick in 2003.

Davydenko will be playing in his second Grand Slam semifinal in his career. The 25-year-old Russian reached the 2005 Roland Garros semifinals before losing to Mariano Puerta.

The No.1 Russian is bidding to extend a 10-match winning streak after winning his eighth-career title at New Haven - defeating Agustin Calleri 64 63 -- the week before the US Open.

Davydenko has played 77 matches this year, the most for any man on the tour, with a win-loss record of 55-22. Davydenko's 55 victories through the semis here are the second-most in 2006 behind Roger Federer (Federer is 69-5, and is second to Davydenko for total matches played.)

The World No.6 has missed just two weeks of the season, competing in 26 tournaments through the US Open. He sat out the week commencing 30 January, and week commencing 17 July. Additionally, Davydenko has taken part in two rounds of Davis Cup, playing one singles match in each round.

Roddick will battle Youzhny for the fifth time in his career -- first time in a Grand Slam event. Youzhny, the elder of the two by just two months, won their first two meetings before Roddick recorded his first victory over Youzhny at the 2003 Australian Open, coming back from two-sets-to-love down for the first time in his career. Roddick also came from behind to win their last meeting to tie their series.

The two players could meet again later this month in the Davis Cup World Group semifinal tie between Russia and USA, being held on clay in Moscow on 22-24 September.

Roddick is in the US Open semifinals for the second time in his career (seventh major semifinal overall), while the No.2 Russian will be contesting in his first ever Grand Slam semifinal.

Roddick is the last Americans alive in the tournament. There has now been at least one American in the US Open semifinals 37 times in the 39 years of the Open Era (through this year), 1986 and 2004 being the exceptions.

The No.2 American, who is one of just two men, along with Stefan Edberg, to collect both the boys' title and men's title at the US Open, won the US Open Series and as a result could earn up to $1 million extra in prize money here.

Youzhny is bidding to reach his first Grand Slam final in his 23rd appearance in a major. Only eight men have taken longer to reach their first Grand Slam final in the Open Era.

This is Youzhny's fifth appearance at the US Open. His best previous results at the tournament were three third round finishes: in 2005, 2004 and on his debut in 2001. Last year, as No. 24 seed, Youzhny let slip a two-set lead to lose to Xavier Malisse.

Following Nikolay Davydenko's victory over Tommy Haas, there are two Russian men in the semifinals of a Grand Slam event for only the second time in the Open Era. In 2001, Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Marat Safin both lost in the last four here. There has not been a Russian finalist at the US Open since Marat Safin won the title in 2000. Safin is also the last Russian finalist at any Grand Slam event, having won the Australian Open title in 2005.

Ranked No. 54 coming into this event, Youzhny is the lowest-ranked semifinalist at the US Open since Karel Novacek in 1994. Novacek, ranked No. 56, lost in the semifinals to Michael Stich 75 63 76. Youzhny is now bidding to become the lowest-ranked finalist here since the ATP rankings began in 1973.

The 24-year-old Russian has the same ranking as Marcos Baghdatis when the Cypriot reached the 2006 Australian Open final, Baghdatis becoming, at No. 54, the joint-eighth-lowest ranked Grand Slam finalist since rankings began.

Youzhny has been the scourge of Spain at this year's US Open. He eliminated their third, second and highest-ranked players (David Ferrer, Tommy Robredo and Rafael Nadal respectively) in successive rounds here. He had been on a six-match losing streak against Spaniards before coming here.

Youzhny is facing an American opponent for the 20th time in his career. He currently has a 7-12 win-loss record against Americans, but he has lost six of his last seven meetings with US players.
-- ATP