Roger Federer to Meet Novak Djokovic for US Open Title

As winner of the US Open Series, Roger Federer has already increased his prize money by $500,000 by reaching the final here and is assured of taking home $1.2 million. If he wins the title here, his bonus would double to $1,000,000 and he would pocket a total of $2.4 million.

 
The 2007 US Open is the 127th staging of US National Championships, which began in 1881. This is the 40th staging of the US Open, the Open Era having started in 1968.

Twenty-one different men have won US Open titles in the Open Era, the second least of any of the four Grand Slam events. The number will increase this year if Novak Djokovic upsets three-time winner Federer today.

Likewise, the Grand Slam singles titleists club will welcome a new member if Djokovic wins. He will become the 50th man to win a Grand Slam title in the Open Era, and the 11th to claim his first major title at the US Open.

Djokovic is only the fourth different Grand Slam finalist in 2007. This equals the lowest number of different Grand Slam finalists in one year in the Open Era, which previously occurred last year, and before that in 1987 and 1978. (Note: this also occurred in 1986 but there was no Australian Open that year.)

This US Open final marks the third successive meeting between European men in a Grand Slam final. Fernando Gonzalez was the only non-European men’s Grand Slam finalist in 2007, being runner-up at the Australian Open. This will be the 14th successive Grand Slam tournament won by a European man, and 2007 is the first year since 1988 that there has not been a US men’s finalist at any of the Grand Slam tournaments.

Federer’s new lead at the top of the ATP Race is not threatened today; he took over from Rafael Nadal at the top of the leaderboard following the Spaniard’s loss in the round of 16. Djokovic will also remain where he is, having been at No. 3 since the start of the 2007 US Open. Federer and Djokovic, along with Nadal, have already qualified for the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup.

The top seven finishers in the 2007 ATP Race qualify for a place at 2007 Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai, while the eighth place goes to a Grand Slam champion this season who finishes between 8th and 20th in the ATP Race. If no player fits this classification, the eighth place goes to the player finishing eighth in the ATP Race.

This will be Federer and Djokovic’s second Grand Slam meeting, the pair having met in the round of 16 at this year’s Australian Open. It is their second match-up in a final, and fifth on hard court.

Federer had a four-match winning streak against his Serbian opponent until AMS Montreal four weeks ago, where Djokovic defeated Federer, the defending champion, in the final to collect his fourth title of the season. The match lasted two hours, 13 minutes, and Djokovic won the first set on a tiebreak after Federer had held six set points serving at 6-5. Having earlier defeated No. 3 Andy Roddick 76 64 in the quarterfinals and No. 2 Rafael Nadal 75 63 in the semifinals, Djokovic became the first man since Boris Becker at 1994 Stockholm to defeat the world’s top three in the same event.

Three-time defending champion Federer has reached his fourth successive US Open final. He is today bidding to become the first man in the Open Era, and the first man in history since Bill Tilden in 1923, to collect a fourth successive US Open title. Federer has never lost a US Open final, winning on all three occasions that he has contested the title match, defeating Lleyton Hewitt 60 76 60 in the 2004 final, Andre Agassi 63 26 76 61 in 2005 and Andy Roddick 62 46 75 61 last year.

Only three men have won four successive titles in the history of this event; the first two of these three, Richard Sears and William Larned, played while the Challenge Round was in existence, so only had to play one match to defend their titles. (The Challenge Round was last played at the US Championships in 1911.)

Federer is now bidding to become the eighth man to win four or more US Open titles. Seven men have won at least four titles, consecutive or non-consecutive, in the history of the US Championships and US Open, including three in the Open Era.

Djokovic is through to his first Grand Slam final, having had his first victory in a Grand Slam semifinal on Saturday when he defeated No. 15 seed David Ferrer 64 64 63. Djokovic had never previously advanced beyond the third round at the US Open.

Djokovic reached his third Grand Slam semifinal, and third successive Grand Slam semifinal, here. He also played a Spaniard in both previous Grand Slam semis, at 2007 Roland Garros losing to eventual champion Rafael Nadal 75 64 62, and in the last four at 2007 Wimbledon retiring against Nadal with an infected blister on his toe when trailing the Spaniard 36 61 41. Djokovic was one of just two players to reach three Grand Slam semifinals in 2007, the other being today’s opponent Federer. Federer in fact has reached the semifinals of all four majors this year, and for the third year running.

Djokovic, at 20 years, three months, 18 days*, is the third-youngest US Open finalist in the Open Era after Pete Sampras and Bjorn Borg. He is bidding to become the second-youngest man to win the title here in the Open Era. Pete Sampras was the youngest, having been 19 years, 28 days old the day he lifted his first trophy here in 1990. (ITF)