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Federer will face Djokovic in men's final

Roger Federer, of Switzerland, returns a shot to Stan Wawrinka, of Switzerland, during a semifinal match at the U.S. Open tennis tournament, Friday, Sept. 11, 2015, in New York. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)
Roger Federer, of Switzerland, returns a shot to Stan Wawrinka, of Switzerland, during a semifinal match at the U.S. Open tennis tournament, Friday, Sept. 11, 2015, in New York. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

NEW YORK – In a celebrity-packed stadium, Roger Federer moved on to his first U.S. Open final since 2009. Federer defeated Swiss countryman Stan Wawrinka in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, 6-1.

Once lightyears apart, Wawrinka had beaten Federer in their most recent match: the quarterfinal at Roland Garros. The win gave Wawrinka confidence, he said in a press conference earlier this week. It meant that now, when they played each other, he wouldn’t be the only one that came in nervous.

If Federer was battling any nerves on Friday, it didn’t show. Federer earned an early break to go up 2-1 in the first set. It was the only break point he earned in the set, and the only one he needed.

By the second, he was making it look easy. He served four aces to claim his first service game, then converted two break-point opportunities while hitting 16 winners and only one unforced error in the set.  He converted both of his opportunities in the final set.

The crowd – including Jason Biggs Sean Connery, Barbara Bush and Jenna Bush Hager, Bradley Cooper, Landon Donovan, Nastia Liukin, Sienna Miller, Henrik Lundquist, Hilary Swank, Liev Schreiber, and a slew of others celebrities – loved seeing Federer play the way he did from 2004-2008, when he strung together five straight titles here.

"He's serving better than [I've ever] seen him serve," Wawrinka said in his press conference. "When he get the lead, when he get the break, then he's relaxed. The way he's playing he's reading better, moving better, so everything going faster, that's for sure."

"I tried everything with what I had today, for sure," he added. "If you look now, if you keep this level, he's going to be tough to beat."

Federer will face No. 1 Novak Djokovic in Sunday's final. Djokovic defeated defending champion Marin Cilic even faster than Federer defeated Wawrinka: he needed just 85 minutes to prevail, 6-0, 6-1, 6-2.

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Danielle Elliot is a writer for Yahoo Sports. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook