NEW YORK — The last time Rafael Nadal was within one Grand Slam title of Roger Federer‘s total, there was no Federer-Nadal rivarly. They had not yet played against each other.
But Nadal has the opportunity for a 19th crown — moving one shy of Federer’s male record — in Sunday’s U.S. Open final (4 p.m. ET) against Russian Daniil Medvedev. He swept 24th seed Matteo Berrettini of Italy 7-6 (6), 6-4, 6-1 in Friday’s semifinals.
Earlier, the fifth seed Medvedev took out Grigor Dimitrov 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-3 to extend the most successful summer of anybody on tour.