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Nadal v Djokovic, Serena v Stosur in US Open finals

11 września, 2011

Defending champion Rafael Nadal booked a US Open title showdown against world number one Novak Djokovic with a bruising 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 win over British fourth seed Andy Murray while in the women\'s final, Serena Williams will face Australian Samantha Stosur.

Nadal, the second seed, will be playing in his 14th Grand Slam final on Monday in what will be a repeat of last year\'s final where he became the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam.

Djokovic, the Australian Open and Wimbledon champion, took his 2011 record to 63 wins against just two defeats, and reached a sixth career Grand Slam final, with a 6-7 (7/9), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 win over five-time champion Roger Federer.

In a repeat of his semi-final heroics of 2010, the Serb once again saved two match points to beat Federer.

Defeat in the final Grand Slam of the year also means Federer\'s streak of consecutive seasons with at least one major title ends at eight.

He claimed the last of his record 16 Grand Slam crowns at the 2010 Australian Open.

"I played my best match of this US Open today," said Nadal, the winner of 10 Grand Slam titles, after completing his 13th win in 17 meetings with Murray.

"I have played Novak five times this year, all in finals, and lost them all. I hope to have better luck this time and I hope New York will help me."

Nadal made sure he could get the majority of support in the final by taking time to remember the victims of the September 11 attacks, ahead of the 10th anniversary on Sunday.

"I just want to send all of my support to the families of the victims of September 11th. I have terrible memories of that day," said the Spaniard, whose victory Saturday was helped by Murray committing 55 unforced errors to his 23.

Defeat for Murray, who reached the semi-finals of all four Grand Slams in 2011, means that Britain\'s long wait for a first major winner since Fred Perry in 1936 goes on.

Djokovic avenged his loss at the hands of Federer in the French Open semi-finals, a defeat which ended his 43-match winning run.

Federer had appeared poised for victory after breaking Djokovic to love for a 5-3 lead in the fifth set -- Djokovic\'s untimely double fault giving the Swiss triple break point in that game.

But when the Swiss great mustered double match point, Djokovic threw caution to the wind, pouncing on a 108 mile per hour Federer serve and belting the return back for a winner.

Djokovic saved another match point when a Federer forehand clipped the net cord and went out.

Two games later, Djokovic punctuated two long rallies with forehand winners to break for 6-5 and Federer was finished.

On women\'s side, three-time champion Serena Williams overpowered world number one Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 6-4 to reach the final where she will play ninth-seeded Australian Samantha Stosur.

Williams, a 13-time Grand Slam champion, who lived up to her billing as the most dangerous 28th seed in the history of the US Open, sent Wozniacki tumbling out of yet another major, blasting 34 winners, including 11 aces, past the Dane, who couldn\'t find an answer even with the aid of the American\'s 34 unforced errors.

Despite her world number one ranking, Wozniacki\'s best Grand Slam performance remains her 2009 runner-up finish to Kim Clijsters at Flushing Meadows in 2009.

Williams, meanwhile, will take on Stosur on Sunday for a 14th Grand Slam crown, and her first since Wimbledon 2010.

That victory was followed by a litany of health problems for Williams, starting with a cut foot that required surgery and including life-threatening blood clots in her lungs.

The drop in her ranking caused by her 11-month layoff led to her lowly seeding here.

Samantha Stosur reached the final earlier on Saturday by holding off determined German Angelique Kerber 6-3, 2-6, 6-2.

Stosur had to work to the bitter end to subdue the 92nd-ranked Kerber, a surprise semi-finalist who had never before made it past the third round of a major tournament and never won a title on the WTA Tour.