updated 8:38 p.m. ET Sept. 8, 2007

NEW YORK - Roger Federer watched his opponent’s last shot of their U.S. Open semifinal sail wide, then calmly walked to the net for a handshake.

He didn’t drop to his knees, didn’t thrust an index finger to the sky to declare, “I’m No. 1,” didn’t take off his shirt — the sort of celebratory gestures Novak Djokovic came up with earlier Saturday upon reaching his first Grand Slam final.

You see, Federer does not get overly excited about semifinal victories, even at major tournaments. He’s all about titles, and now he’s one victory away from yet another: No. 4 at the U.S. Open, No. 12 overall at Slams.

Tested at the start and again late, the No. 1-seeded Federer worked his way past No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko 7-5, 6-1, 7-5 Saturday, stretching his winning streak at Flushing Meadows to 26 matches.

“I’m always very well-prepared for the majors. I know what it takes,” Federer said. “When the second week comes around, I play my best.”

In Sunday’s championship match, Federer will face the only man to beat him over the past three months: Djokovic. The No. 3-seeded Serb had a harder time with the heat and humidity than with his foe but overcame all three to defeat No. 15 David Ferrer 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.

“I guess the best players of the summer are in the final,” said Federer, all too aware that he lost to Djokovic at a hard-court event in Montreal in early August.

That was Djokovic’s big breakthrough: He also beat Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick there, becoming the first man in 13 years to beat Nos. 1-3 in the rankings at a single tournament.

Later Saturday, No. 1 Justine Henin faced No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova for the women’s championship in a matchup of two past Open title winners.

The resumes of the men’s finalists are vastly different, of course.

While Djokovic will be aiming for his first major title, Federer will be trying to tie Roy Emerson for second in tennis history behind Pete Sampras’ 14.

There’s more.

Sunday’s match will be Federer’s 10th consecutive Grand Slam final.

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No one else in the history of tennis managed to make more than seven in a row.

And Federer will be trying to become the first man since Bill Tilden in the 1920s to win the American Slam four consecutive years.

Federer should consider himself warned, however: Djokovic wants to go home with the U.S. Open trophy, not just make another good impression.

“I need to believe in myself, because otherwise I wouldn’t get the positive outcome,” Djokovic said. “I don’t want to go out tomorrow and try to do my best or try to perform well. No, I’ll go tomorrow to try to win.”

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With the temperature approaching 90 degrees during his semifinal, Djokovic was too spent afterward to reprise the sort of act he performed after winning in the quarterfinals, when he drew guffaws by doing spot-on imitations of Maria Sharapova and Nadal.

“Last two days, the people were more congratulating me for the impressions than for my tennis,” Djokovic said. “I was wondering, ’Guys, am I here for the impersonation, entertaining — or to play tennis?”’

Well, possibly both, but certainly the latter. The 20-year-old Djokovic is the youngest men’s finalist at Flushing Meadows since Pete Sampras was 19 when he won the 1990 title. Djokovic is also the first man from Serbia to get to a major final.

There were moments early on when it looked as if Djokovic might actually face Davydenko, who came in with an 0-9 record against Federer in their previous meetings.

Davydenko — who expects to be questioned soon in connection with an ATP gambling probe — won the coin toss and elected to receive at the start, a rare sight.

Clearly, Davydenko knew what he was doing: He came in having won 50 percent of his return games during the U.S. Open, and he promptly broke Federer to begin the match.

Federer was broken a total of two times through five matches — and then five times by Davydenko, whose sneakers squeaked loudly as he used a lot of little steps to scoot around the court.

In the opening set, 10 points lasted at least 10 strokes — and Davydenko won seven.

Federer looked, well, mediocre, as Davydenko went ahead 3-1. The heavy underdog then was one point away from going up 4-1, but Federer saved a break point by ending an 11-stroke exchange with a backhand winner down the line.

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