Djokovic Into Fourth Straight Semi-final

© Getty ImagesNovak Djokovic en route to his fourth consecutive US Open semi-final.

Novak Djokovic charged into his fourth consecutive semi-final at the US Open after defeating Frenchman Gael Monfils 7-6(2), 6-1, 6-2 at Flushing Meadows Wednesday. Djokovic, who was runner-up to Roger Federer in 2007, fought off 11 of the 13 break points he faced, while breaking Monfils seven times.

The World No. 3 Serb will now face five-time champion Roger Federer, whom he lost to in the same round one year ago and last month in the semi-finals of the Rogers Cup in Toronto. Federer leads their head-to-head series 10-5.

Buy Tickets | TV Schedule 

Djokovic, who extended his perfect record against Monfils to 5-0, also reached the Wimbledon semi-finals and earlier in the year reached the quarter-finals of Roland Garros and the Australian Open.

Djokovic hit 38 winners, more than double Monfils’ total of 17.

As gusty winds again tested players' resolve at Flushing Meadows, Djokovic said that he was very happy with how he handled the conditions. “I just need to keep the focus and try to use the wind in my favour. This was the tricky thing today. Obviously the conditions were maybe as difficult as we saw so far in the tournament.  We didn't have wind only one direction.  We had it all over, you know. I had some struggles when I was coming to the net. In the first set I made a lot of unforced errors there.

“I am really happy with the way I'm using my experience on the court in those conditions. Maybe playing in these conditions the first couple of matches helped me to develop that."

Watch Djokovic Interview

Looking ahead to the semi-finals, Djokovic said: “It's a very similar situation likes last year. Soderling plays Federer in the quarters, and I am playing the winner.  I lost to Federer the last three years that we played here.  But every year I tried to win.  I tried to go out on the court with positive attitude.  He's a great champion, of course great player.  But you never know what's gonna happen.  I don't want to think about those losses in the last three years, which were really, really close in all those matches.”

Despite his run to the quarter-finals, Monfils said that he had not been happy with his play for most of the tournament. "I think the only positive is the result. I think my game was not that good to the quarter-final. I played maybe just one good match against Andreev."