US OPEN TENNIS DAY 12 PREVIEW: FEDERER VS. WAWRINKA AND DJOKOVIC VS. CILIC

Written by: Staff on 11th September 2015

US OPEN TENNIS DAY 12 PREVIEW: FEDERER VS. WAWRINKA AND DJOKOVIC VS. CILIC

epa04924411 People walk on the grounds outside Arthur Ashe Stadium after both women's Semifinals matches were postponed due to expected rain throughout the night on the eleventh day of the 2015 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 10 September 2015. The women's Semifinals matches will now be played starting at 11am ET with both men's Semifinals to follow starting at 5pm ET. EPA/JOHN G. MABANGLO |

Top seed Novak Djokovic faces defending champ Marin Cilic, five-time titlist Roger Federer battles countryman Stan Wawrinka

Four Grand Slam champions clash in their quest for another major title Friday in the US Open semi-finals. Reigning champ Marin Cilic is on a 12-match win streak at the US Open, but a 13-match losing streak against his opponent, World No. 1 and 2011 winner Novak Djokovic. Later on Ashe, Swiss stars Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka meet for the sixth time at a Grand Slam event (first time at the US Open). Five-time champion Federer is 4-1 against Wawrinka at the majors, but the younger Swiss won their last meeting en route to the Roland Garros title. Another Swiss, Hall-of-Famer Martina Hingis, plays Friday alongside Indian legend Leander Paes in the mixed doubles final. They meet the All-American team of Sam Querrey and Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

Not since 1995 have four Grand Slam champions met in the US Open semi-finals. Americans Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Jim Courier joined Boris Becker, now Djokovic’s coach, in the Final Four that year. Djokovic is one win from reaching the final of all four Grand Slams in a single year for the first time in his career. He’s also playing for a spot in his 11th straight final overall, which is the most since Federer’s 17 in 2005-06. Djokovic is facing his sixth straight opponent who has never beaten him entering the US Open (Cilic 0-13, F. Lopez 0-5, Bautista Agut 0-2, Seppi 0-10, Haider-Maurer 0-1, Souza 0-0. TOTAL: 0-31).

The 20th meeting between Olympic gold-medal teammates Federer and Wawrinka will be their first in a Grand Slam semi-final or final. The surface suits the elder Swiss: Federer is 11-0 in hard-court matches against Wawrinka (23-4 in sets). However, Wawrinka won a set in each of his last three hard-court meetings with Federer and held four match points in the most recent, falling 46 75 76(6) in the 2014 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals SF.

[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs. [9] Marin Cilic (CRO)

FedEx ATP Head2Head: Djokovic leads 13-0

* Djokovic is appearing in his 21st SF in his last 22 Grand Slam appearances. His only defeat before the SF in that span came to Wawrinka in QFs at last year’s Australian Open

* Djokovic is looking to reach his 16th Grand Slam final in last 21 majors (since ’10 US Open)

* Cilic has won 12 consecutive matches in Flushing Meadows and is appearing in his 3rd career major SF (’10 AO)

* Cilic is 19-54 lifetime against Top 10 opponents in Emirates ATP Rankings and he’s looking for his first career win vs. a World No. 1 (0-7, l. to Djokovic four times, Nadal twice, Federer once)

Novak Djokovic of Serbia hits a return to Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain during their match on the seventh day of the 2015 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 06 September 2015. The US Open runs through 13 September, which is a return to a 14-day schedule. EPA/BRIAN HIRSCHFELD

[2] Roger Federer (SUI) vs. [5] Stan Wawrinka (SUI)

FedEx ATP Head2Head: Federer leads 16-3

* At 34 years, 34 days, Federer is the oldest Grand Slam singles semi-finalist since Jonas Bjorkman (34 yrs., 108 days) at Wimbledon in 2006 (l. to Federer 62 60 62)

* Federer is trying to become the oldest Grand Slam finalist since Andre Agassi (35 yrs., 135 days) at the US Open in 2005 (l. to Federer)

* Wawrinka is appearing in his 3rd Grand Slam SF of the season and enters with a 21-2 match record in majors

* He is playing in his 5th Grand Slam SF in the last 9 majors (since ’13 US Open). Reached 0 SFs in first 34 majors

Roger Federer of Switzerland hits a return to Richard Gasquet of France during their quarterfinals match on the tenth day of the 2015 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 09 September 2015. The US Open runs through 13 September, which is a return to a 14-day schedule. EPA/ANDREW GOMBERT

( Courtesy of the ATP and Original Link – http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/us-open-2015-friday-sf-preview-djokovic-leads-final-four-in-semis )

Topics: 2015 US Open, Atp World Tour, Marin Cilic, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka, Tennis News, US Open tennis

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10sBalls_com says:

September 11, 2015 at 8:42 am

#USOpen #Tennis DAY 12 PREVIEW: @rogerfederer VS. @stanwawrinka AND @DjokerNole VS. @cilic_marin- http://t.co/V2QAgKoRt5 #USOpen2015 #ATP