Roger Federer vs Novak Djokovic for US open final

By the tramlines, the post-match interview lasted about 10 minutes. A backstage chat with actor Bradley Cooper and skiier Lindsey Vonn took roughly twice that time. It was succeeded with a guest appearance at ESPN’s open-air studio. Precisely 30 minutes ticked by. Finally, it was time for the press conference. The session in English was done in 20 minutes; the one in German dusted in 15.

On Friday night, Roger Federer quite easily spent more time deconstructing his win over Stan Wawrinka off-court for our benefit than he actually did deconstructing Stan Wawrinka on it for his own.

The all-Swiss semifinal had persevered for a total 92 minutes. Federer prevailed quite spectacularly — without being broken on the night and without dropping a set over the fortnight (the count is now 28 since Cincinnati). The atavistic performance put him in his seventh US Open final, a round he hasn’t visited in six years. A round visited with great consistency by his Sunday’s opponent, Novak Djokovic.