U.S. Open tennis: Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev advance to men's final

Sept. 10 (UPI) -- Top-seeded Novak Djokovic outlasted Tokyo Olympic gold medalist and No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev in the U.S. Open semifinals Friday night in Flushing, N.Y., leaving him just one win away from completing the first calendar-year Grand Slam in men's tennis since 1969.

Djokovic earned a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 victory over Zverev in a back-and-forth match inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. With the win, Djokovic moved to 27-0 in major championships this season.

The 34-year-old Serbian is attempting to go 4 for 4 in Grand Slam tournaments over the course of one season, something last achieved in men's tennis by Rod Laver more than five decades ago. It also was accomplished by Laver in 1962 and Don Budge in 1938.

No. 2 seed Daniil Medvedev stands in Djokovic's path on his historic quest. Earlier Friday, the 25-year-old Russian eliminated No. 12 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada in straight sets.

The 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 win clinched Medvedev's third trip to a Grand Slam final. He finished as the runner-up to Djokovic in this year's Australian Open final and lost to Rafael Nadal in the 2019 U.S. Open final.

"The more you lose something, the more you want to win it. The more you want to gain it and take it," said Medvedev, who has dropped only one set over the past two weeks. "I lost two finals. I want to win the third one."

Djokovic and Medvedev are set to square off in the men's final at 4 p.m. EDT Sunday at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York.