Rafa’s final march

An invigorated Nadal,24,needed only this United States Open to complete his Grand Slam resume,and now must wait for his opponent — and for tennis history.

“For now,it’s a dream to play for the first time in the finals on the biggest center court in the world,” Nadal said in his on-court interview. “I tried my best for years,and now after a lot of work,I am in the finals.”

Up next on center court: the No. 2-ranked Roger Federer,the five-time Open champion,will play Novak Djokovic,attempting to eliminate him for the third straight year in this same round.

While Nadal and Federer represent the defining rivalry of men’s tennis now,they have never played each other at the U.S. Open. Nadal has the career advantage,leading head-to-head 14-7.

Even if Nadal was thinking of what could be,he showed no lapse of concentration. Youzhny,coming off an exhausting five-setter over Stanislas Wawrinka in the quarterfinals,and some four-setters before that round,seemed worn down by the time he took the court. It was not until the eighth game of the third set that Youzhny was able to break Nadal. But the moment was fleeting; Nadal broke right back and neatly finished the match.

In previous years at the Open,Nadal has come to New York suffering from injuries,his vulnerable knees especially,worn down by the pounding of the long season. He won both the French Open and Wimbledon and this year in New York,Nadal took the court with fresher legs and fiercer confidence.

If there were any doubt about this otherwise perfunctory semifinal,it was that Nadal called the trainer onto the court to treat his left foot. Nadal appeared to be suffering from blisters,but after the match,he just laughed in his on-court interview and said the tape was “a little bit too hard.”

So far,that is all that has been hard for Nadal at this U.S. Open.