He survived the second on a nail-biting 23-shot rally, the longest of the match, finally drawing a forced error from Nadal’s backhand. Top grass-court players like Federer and Petra Kvitova and big servers like Milos Raonic and Karolina Pliskova have all commented on the pace of the courts. Djokovic has played Federer 47 times and beaten him in 25 of those matches.

Nadal saved Federer’s first two match points on his own serve, and with Federer serving for the match in the next game, Nadal earned a break point when a backpedaling Federer could not corral an overhead smash. The fifth match point was the charm for Federer, who forced a backhand error long from Nadal to end the match. Nadal became the first man since Borg in 1980 to win the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year. He broke Federer at love to lead 3-1, helped by two Federer forehand errors, and then quickly consolidated with a hold to 15 of his own for a 4-1 lead.

Daily live commentaries on the BBC Sport website, listen to Tennis Breakfast daily from 07:00 GMT on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra and watch highlights on BBC TV and online from 19 January.

He will play Argentine third seed Juan Martin del Potro, the 2009 champion, in Friday's semi-finals. Nadal jumped over the net to console his Austrian opponent at the end, the pair embracing as those left inside Arthur Ashe Stadium rose to their feet to give them a thunderous ovation. Roger Federer won, 7-6 (3), 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, and will face Novak Djokovic in the final on Sunday.

Astonishing match, felt like a coming out party for Thiem who was breathtaking. In three games, he held serve without Nadal winning any points. Federer, 37, and Nadal, 33, had not played at Wimbledon in the 11 years since Nadal defeated Federer, 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (8), 9-7, in a final that is … “Like a clay court” should be music to the ears of Nadal, the greatest clay player in history. 1 in the rankings. Rally length has increased at Wimbledon this year; the earlier semifinal between Djokovic and Bautista Agut featured a 45-shot rally, the longest at the tournament since 2005, when Wimbledon started tracking rallies. Once trailing by 23-10 in their head-to-head, Federer has since won six of his last seven matches against Nadal. There is something seriously wrong with tennis in the USA... Criminal that to watch the US Open you have to subscribe to the useless Amazon Prime. I hadn't expected the behavior of the crowd, it's certainly not Wimbledon. Difficult not to feel for him after that performance, much as i'm willing Nadal to defend his US Open title. Nadal has found particular success, as usual, targeting Federer’s backhand: that side has produced 10 unforced errors, 14 forced errors, and just one winner. Federer’s frustration surfaced in the final game, even going for a low percentage rush return (the so-called SABR — Sneak Attack By Roger). Viewing on Amazon P - I see it as a bonus to be able to watch it. After losing the second set, 6-1, Federer looked on his way to handing Nadal an equally lopsided loss of the third set, going up by 4-1 and holding two break points for a 5-1 lead in the sixth game. Federer will serve to open the third set. Ultimately, though, the torch wasn’t passed so much as it was shared. Federer had beaten Nadal in the Wimbledon final the two previous years. In the periods where Thiem's powerful groundstrokes were finding their target, Nadal was in trouble. The good news continues for Federer: Nadal has never come back to win against him after trailing by two sets to one. They have somehow never faced each other at the United States Open. A great match between a legend and a brilliant youngster of the game.


Nadal won just seven points as he was 'bagelled' for the first time at the US Open since a second-round defeat by American second seed Andy Roddick in 2004. Nadal, Djokovic, Thiem Return To Roland Garros; When Is The Draw & More ATPWorldTour.com 20:19 22-Sep-20. Nadal has lost only two points on his serve. Nadal won only five points during Federer’s serve in the set.
This is the only the fifth time they have faced each other in a Grand Slam semifinal, and Nadal has won them all — at the French Open in 2005 and 2019 and the Australian Open in 2012 and 2014. Thiem refused to entertain a different tactical approach and continued to go for broke - a risk and reward strategy which, although he did maintain, ultimately did not pay off in the cruellest of circumstances. Djokovic advanced earlier in the afternoon on Centre Court with a hard-fought, four-set victory of his own over Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. The first was a 24-shot rally in which Nadal was able to eventually plant his feet and hit a clean forehand winner down the line.