Djokovic reaches another Slam semi
<p>Spain's David Ferrer returns a shot against Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia in the quarterfinals during the 2012 US Open tennis tournament, Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)</p>
NEW YORK (AP) - Locked in a taut, thrill-a-minute second set, Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro headed to a tiebreaker and promptly produced a 20-stroke masterpiece of a point befitting a pair of past U.S. Open champions.
More than a dozen shots in, defending champion Djokovic tossed up a lob. Del Potro, the 2009 champion, sprinted with his back to the court, got to the ball and lofted a lob the other way. Djokovic slammed an overhead. Del Potro somehow kept the ball in play. Djokovic laced a drop shot. Again, del Potro got there, attempting another lob. It landed long.
Close and compelling as their quarterfinal was, it might as well have been over right then and there. Djokovic's down-the-line backhand winner moments later ended the tiebreaker, gave him a commanding lead, and sent him on the way to a 6-2, 7-6 (3), 6-4 victory Thursday night that put him in his 10th consecutive Grand Slam semifinal.
The second-seeded Serb will face fourth-seeded David Ferrer of Spain on Saturday, with a spot in Sunday's final at stake. Ferrer advanced to his fourth career major semifinal by using his high-energy brand of leg-churning, ball-chasing tennis to outlast eighth-seeded Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 6-3, 6-7 (5), 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4) in 4 hours, 31 minutes.
Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych earned their semifinal berths Wednesday.