NEW YORK: Hear the thud? The smash, that crash. Novak Djokovic is banging on the hard-wearing doors of tennis history. The world No.1 is just one win short of a calendar Grand Slam -- last achieved by a man back in the season the laser printer was born, ironically -- and a record-breaking 21st major title.
The stage is set. The routines, observances, sequences all played out.
Rod Laver is in the house too. The Arthur Ashe Stadium sounded a warm welcome to the 83-year-old. Earlier in the fortnight, the Serb visited the West Side Tennis Club, where the Aussie, the last man to complete the calendar Grand Slam 52 years ago, sealed his run.
On Friday Djokovic showed characteristic steel in notching his 27th successive major championship win, coming through in 3-hours and 34-minutes. He beat German Alexander Zverev 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 some six weeks after the world No.4 had derailed Djokovic's goal of a Golden Slam.
The top-seed will take on the world No.2 Daniil Medvedev in the title round, bookending the season's Slams with identical representation.
The two had met in the final in Melbourne. It is just the fourth time the top two seeds have made the US Open final in the last 25 years, with the top-seed, read Djokovic, winning on two occasions.
On Friday, Djokovic, who lost the first set for the fourth successive time in the tournament, went for the reset button immediately, as if it were his favourite microwave settings. He pulled himself together quickly, but blinked in the fourth set, allowing the German back, before speeding away to a decisive 5-0 lead in the decider.
"There's only one match left, all in, let's do it," Djokovic told the arena after his semifinal victory. "I'm going to put my heart, my soul, my body and my head into that one. I'm going to treat the next match like it's the last match of my career."
Djokovic, who has steered clear of speaking about the history that's on the line, especially in the past week, finished his late-night post-match interaction by playing back a Kobe Bryant quote. Djokovic recalled a famous line by Bryant from the 2009 NBA Finals when the Los Angeles Lakers were up 2-0 on the Orlando Magic.
"It's his famous interview where he said, 'Why should I be happy right now? Job is not done'. That's kind of an attitude I have. Job is not done," Djokovic said, adding, "Excitement is there. Motivation is there, without a doubt. Probably more than ever. But I have one more to go."
The Serb reminded the media that there was only one image playing on his mind at this point, him holding the US Open trophy on Sunday.
"I'm just trying to lock into what I know works for me. I have my routines, my people. I isolate myself. I gather all the necessary energy for the next battle, only the next match," Djokovic said.
"On the other side, I'll be giving it all I possibly got in the tank to win this match. I'm focusing on recovery, recalibrating all the systems for Sunday. I'm not going to waste time or energy on anything that can just be a distraction and deplete me from the vital energy that I need for Sunday."
