US OPEN 2007: Men's Final Preview

Roger Federer SUI (1) vs. Novak Djokovic SRB (3). The 25-year-old top seed defeated Nikolay Davydenko for the tenth consecutive time 7-5, 6-1, 7-5 to earn his tenth consecutive Grand Slam final and fourteenth of his career. He will meet 20-year-old Novak Djokovic who is playing in his very first major final after defeating David Ferrer of Spain yesterday 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. Djokovic defeated Federer on hard courts (for the first time in 5 meetings) four weeks ago at the Montreal ATP Masters Series event in a third set tiebreak, with a drop shot (!) on match point.

Federer has grown accustomed to facing younger opponents in finals and has a stunning record of 11-2 in major finals. Although Djokovic clearly has the game and talent to defeat Federer, especially if "The Name" is not playing well, it is doubtful that "The Next Big Thing" will come away with the prize in his very first major final. Most tennis watchers and pundits do expect Djokovic to win a major title eventually (I suspect it will happen in 2008). Despite what Bud Collins thinks, Mad Professah believes Djokovic will not be able to prevent Federer from extending his US Open win streak to 27 consecutive matches and 4 consecutive titles today. That will give Federer 12 major titles, putting him in second place behind his idol Pete Sampras' total of 14 for the most Grand Slam singles titles.

PREDICTION: Federer (in 4 sets).