If you were hoping for another chapter in the Roger Federer v. Rafael Nadal saga, forget it because it’s not happening at the 2008 US Open final.

Is Roger Federer back to his old self? I wouldn’t go that far but the former No. 1 is playing the best brand of hard court tennis he has in the last 12 months. Federer earlier today dispatched Novak Djokovic 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 to reach the US Open final for a fifth consecutive time.

“I think I was behaving like a really spoilt girl today,” Safina told reporters.

I was looking for a statement-type match from Novak Djokovic at the US Open last night, and I got that and a whole lot more.

After the match in an on-court interview, Djokovic lambasted Roddick for joking that the Serb was suffering from 16 injuries, drawing boos from the US Open crowd.

We are going to learn a lot about Novak Djokovic tonight. And I think Novak’s going to learn a lot about himself when under the lights, in primetime the Serb challenges American favorite Andy Roddick for a spot in the US Open semifinals.

Dinara Safina, the No. 7-ranked player in the world who can leap all the way to No. 1 with a US Open win, was the other quarterfinal winner Wednesday, topping Flavia Pennetta 6-2, 6-3. The 22-year-old Russian, who earlier in the week was literally crying to her coach on a practice court regarding her exhaustion following a long summer and the Beijing Olympics, has gathered herself in time for the semifinal and a date with Serena Williams.

Wow a great afternoon of tennis yesterday with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic each being stretched to the limit in five set wins.

Andy Roddick is suddenly looking all the wiser with the combination of skipping the Beijing Olympics and bring Patrick McEnroe on as a temporary coach. Gonzalez looked like he had the Beijing flu on Tuesday night, with barely enough energy to put up a fight.

Roger Federer hasn’t won four matches at a hardcourt tournament since the Australian Open. With three wins under his belt, Federer today tries for No. 4 against the heavy-hitting Igor Andreev.