NEW YORK — Roger Federer is five inches shorter and about seven years older than Juan Martin del Potro.
But the 6-foot-1, 28-year-old Federer has 15 major titles. He is in his 21st Grand Slam tennis tournament final. He is in his 17th final in the last 18 majors. And today Federer might become the first man since Bill Tilden in the 1920s to win six straight U.S. championships.
The top-seeded Federer beat fourth-seeded Novak Djokovic, 7-6 (3), 7-5, 7-5, Sunday in the second men's semifinal at the U.S. Open. In the first, the sixth-seeded Del Potro conquered the wounded Rafael Nadal, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. Nadal, seeded third, has been dealing with a strained abdominal muscle for a month and could not withstand Del Potro's power.
But Del Potro, a 20-year-old Argentine, probably would be well-advised to not watch highlights of Federer's artistic and athletic semifinal triumph.
On the next-to-last point of the match, Federer hit what he called the best shot of his life. Djokovic was serving and seemingly in control of the point, standing at the net and watching for his just-hit lob to land out of Federer's reach.
Except Federer materialized at the baseline just when the lob landed. With his back to the net, Federer swung the racket between his legs -- and hit a clean winner past Djokovic. The crowd roared, and Federer's forehand return winner that followed on match point was anticlimactic.
"On those shots, you just say, 'Well done, too good.' What can you do?" Djokovic said. While Federer was still on the court, the point was replayed on the scoreboard video screens at Arthur Ashe Stadium, and Federer exclaimed, "That's unbelievable."
So are many of Federer's accomplishments. If he beats Del Potro he will tie Tilden (six straight U.S. championships from 1920-25) and William Renshaw (Wimbledon, 1881-86) by winning six consecutive titles at a single Grand Slam event. Only Richard Sears, who won the U.S. title seven times in a row beginning in 1881, would be ahead of Federer.
In his way is Del Potro, who at 6 feet 6 is all lanky arms and legs. When he gets all those moving parts in sync, the forehands bound off his racket.
To Nadal it must have sounded as if he were inside a popcorn popper -- puff, puff, puff, the tennis ball seeming to multiply as it whizzed past Nadal over and over.
Wearing a sleeveless black shirt, black shorts and black shoes, Del Potro looked like a stick of licorice, and his body often seems as flexible as one.
