Five-time champion Roger Federer has taken the opening set on a tiebreak against his great rival Novak Djokovic.
From a neutral perspective, lets hope we get a repeat of last year's Super Saturday classic which saw Djokovic claim one of the defining wins of his career, becoming the first player since David Nalbandian in 2003 to stop Federer before the US Open final. It was the match of the year. Many had begun to doubt Djokovic's appetite for the big occasion but he flung all of that out the window, saving two match points before winning 5-7, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2, 7-5.
Would Djokovic have gone on to make history this year if he had lost that match ? Probably not. The Serb has achieved some incredible things in 2011 and now Federer stands in the way of him making a third Grand Slam final.
They have already played four times this season. Djokovic completely outplayed the Swiss in Melbourne, Dubai and Indian Wells but just when everyone had written him off, Federer produced one of the performances of his career in the French Open semi-finals to ruin Djokovic's hopes with a 7-6, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 win.
At 30, having achieved virtually everything in the game, Federer lives for these sort of matches. Djokovic is the favourite but he looked just a little vulnerable at times against Janko Tipsarevic in the quarters while Federer has played some silky smooth attacking tennis in the past few rounds. When he's at his best, no one can stop him Can he turn the magic once more ? Flushing Meadows awaits.
