Novak Djokovic wins thrilling five-set semifinal to reach third Grand Slam final this year
If there is one thing we've learned when Novak Djokovic draws Stanislas Wawrinka in a Grand Slam, it's expect the unexpected.
Earlier this season at the Australian Open, Djokovic met Wawrinka in the fourth round and while Wawrinka was playing solid tennis, most expected the No. 1 player in the world to roll over him on his way to another semifinal in a Grand Slam.
It took Djokovic five sets and 22 games in the fifth set to finally get pass Wawrinka, and while a ton of people looked past this semifinal match on Saturday simply expecting a Djokovic-Rafael Nadal final, it was Novak that knew his opponent would be tough.
But this tough?
Wawrinka won the opening set in 34 minutes, and after dropping the second to Novak in a tiebreaker, it was back to the quick work of Wawrinka, who took just 30 minutes to snag the third set.
Djokovic, looking for his second Grand Slam championship of the season and his tenth Grand Slam finals appearance in the last 13 Slams, was in trouble, but a comfortable fourth set win helped by a quick start set up a fifth set that a lot thought might be as epic as that one in Melbourne.
It wasn't, with Djokovic winning the fifth set 6-4 and ending with a pretty solid ace to advance to the finals of the U.S. Open with a chance to remind people that while Nadal is playing incredible tennis, Djokovic is still the top ranked tennis player in the world.
