Djokovic has game, but Federer has title

Swiss star overcomes Serb's challenge and wins 12th major tennis championship

NEW YORK -- Roger Federer sure gave Novak Djokovic chances, plenty of chances, to pull off a major upset in the U.S. Open men's final.

Federer knows how to win these things, and Djokovic is still learning, and that made the difference Sunday.

Hardly at the top of his game, Federer came through, beating Djokovic 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2), 6-4 for his fourth consecutive U.S. Open championship and 12th Grand Slam tennis title overall.

Federer, from Switzerland, is the first man since Bill Tilden in the 1920s to win the American Grand Slam four years running, and, just 26 years old, he moved to two wins shy of Pete Sampras' career record of 14 major titles.

"I think about it a lot now," Federer said of Sampras' mark. "To come so close at my age is fantastic, and I hope to break it."

How many Slams can he win?

"I don't know," Federer said. "I hope more than Pete."

This one was a close call.

Djokovic, 20, was in his first Slam final, yet he led 6-5 in each of the opening two sets.

In the first, he held five set points. In the second, he held two.

Federer erased all of those, showing the craft and cool that have allowed him to hold the No. 1 ranking for the past 188 weeks, the longest run ever.

"My next book is going to be called, 'Seven Set Points,' " third-seeded Djokovic said, flashing the same sort of humor he displayed when he did on-court impersonations of other players after his quarterfinal victory.

On a more serious note, Djokovic said of Federer: "Once again, he showed he's the best."

Djokovic, from Serbia, was the only man to beat Federer over the past three months, but that was in early August at Montreal, not early September at New York, and in a Grand Slam tuneup, not the real deal.

So, not just talented with a racket but prescient, too, Federer pretty much predicted what would transpire. Shortly before walking out for Sunday's match, he said knowingly, "It'll be interesting to see how he handles the final."

Sure was.

Afterward, Federer spoke about having enjoyed getting another shot at Djokovic.

"New guys challenging me -- this is my biggest motivation out there," Federer said. "Seeing them challenging me, and then beating them in the finals."

In the end, about the only category Djokovic won on this day was "Most Intriguing Guests," with 2006 Open champion Maria Sharapova -- "just a friendship," he said -- and actor Robert De Niro sharing a box with his parents in the stands.

Federer was dressed for an evening on the town -- all in black, from head wrap and wristband to socks and shoes, from shirt to shorts with tuxedo-like satin stripes down the sides -- and he finished things under the lights by breaking Djokovic in the last game with the help of a no-look, over-the-shoulder volley winner.

It's the type of shot that has prompted plenty of people to call Federer the greatest to ever swing a racket.

Which is why, at the start, it was surprising that Federer was not the Federer everyone has to come to expect. When Federer double-faulted, then sprayed two forehands long, Djokovic broke to go up 6-5. Perhaps thinking they'd witness an upset, many in the over-capacity crowd of 25,230 stood clapping and screaming.

So, serving for the first set, Djokovic raced to a 40-love edge.

Three set points. Three chances to take a one-set lead against Federer in the final.

And just like that, they vanished: Federer hit a cross-court forehand winner that caught a line, and Djokovic missed two backhands.

Then came two more set points that Federer erased. Then, in the tiebreaker, Djokovic made three backhand errors and two double-faults, including on the last point.

"He knows what it feels like to be in that kind of situation. He knows how to cope with the pressure," Djokovic said. "For me, this is something new."