Herculean effort

Novak Djokovic of Serbia stretches for a return to Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland during their men's semifinal match at the US Open tennis championships in New York, Sept 7, 2013. [Photo/Agencies]

Djokovic said he had to regroup after that epic game.

"Twenty-one minutes. Wow," said the Serb. "I was thinking whoever wins this game is going to win the match. I told myself I was going to have to fight again."

The Herculean effort seemed to sap the last bit of energy from Wawrinka, who had earlier left the court for treatment of a thigh strain during the changeover when trailing 4-1 in the fourth set.

Djokovic held serve, then broke Wawrinka in the next game for a 3-2 lead and served out to win another classic encounter between the pair following their five-set struggle in the fourth round of the Australian Open, where the Serb closed out the decisive set 12-10.

"It was a great tournament for me," said Wawrinka after his first Grand Slam semifinal. "Tough match, tough loss. I gave everything. I fought until the end. With this crowd, it was an amazing experience."

Czech pair Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka capped off Saturday's programme by winning the women's doubles title with a 7-6(4) 6-1 6-4 win over Australians Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua.

World number one Serena Williams will take on number two Victoria Azarenka for the women's singles title on Sunday in a tantalising rematch of last year's championship decider.

That will follow the men's doubles final with Austria's Alexander Peya and Brazilian Bruno Soares facing Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic and India's Leander Paes.