U.S. Open - Djokovic Dominates Ferrer in Semifinal - NYTimes.com At the end of his United States Open semifinal, Novak Djokovic hardly celebrated. He let out a small scream, pumped a quick fist and skipped across the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Then he turned his attention toward his next match, toward another Monday final at the Open, toward Andy Murray, his opponent and the sentimental favorite. To successfully defend his 2011 Open championship, Djokovic must deny Murray his first major tournament victory, must summon another moment in New York. "There's some magic here," Djokovic's coach, Marian Vajda, said afterward. Always, in New York, there is magic. On Saturday, there was less magic and more meteorology involved. There was rain and wind and an evacuation for a possible tornado. Djokovic trailed David Ferrer, 5-2, when officials suspended play. It is possible he celebrated the postponement more than his victory the next day, because the former largely made the latter possible. Vajda said Djokovic "could not cope" with the miserable conditions, but he flourished underneath the afternoon sun in his 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 triumph. "I didn't mind getting off the court," Djokovic said Sunday as a sly smile crept across his face. Ferrer did take the first set when play resumed, which marked the first time all tournament that anyone took a set off Djokovic, who lost only 32 games before the semifinals. Their match U-turned after that, though. To combat Ferrer's defensive style, Djokovic attacked him. He also seemed to retrieve every shot, but he returned the ball at sharper angles, with more force. For a brief period in the third set, Ferrer scratched his way back. He seemed to frustrate Djokovic, who lost patience and started to overhit, accumulating errors. That lasted for all of a few games. Tomas Berdych, who lost to Murray in the semifinal that finished Saturday, said the players should not have been forced to compete under such extreme weather conditions, but Ferrer declined to complain about the way his fortunes shifted after the delay. "Every day is different," he said. Djokovic did not play Ferrer that way by accident. Instead, his aggressive style resulted from a plan Vajda and his team developed before the Open. Vajda said it took time for Djokovic to recover from the events of midseason, from the loss to Rafael Nadal in the French Open final that robbed Djokovic of four consecutive Grand Slam triumphs, to his struggles at Wimbledon and at the Olympics. Vajda believed that, rather than improve a single shot, Djokovic needed to play more. So play he did, winning a tournament in Toronto and finishing second in Ohio. Still, when Djokovic arrived at the Open, Vajda told him he did not like the way he was playing. "You're too passive," Vajda said to Djokovic. You don't step on it. You're defending too much. You have to adjust the way you play. Otherwise, you won't win. Djokovic heeded his coach's advice, or at least it appeared that way as he cruised through the Open with a series of dominant straight-set wins. With Nadal absent while recovering from a knee injury, and Roger Federer out in the quarterfinals, the draw opened up. Suddenly, Djokovic, an afterthought for two weeks, was favored again. For much of this season, Vajda said Djokovic and his team struggled with comparisons to 2011, the season in which Djokovic basically won every match for six months. It was "not easy," Vajda said, to try to live up to those expectations, to compile a successful season that, no matter how successful it ultimately was, could never match the one before. Djokovic's final against Murray will go a long way toward determining the player of the year for 2012. Each could stake a legitimate claim in victory: Murray for his Olympic singles gold and runner-up finish at Wimbledon; Djokovic for his Australian Open trophy and his second-place run in Paris. Federer, too, deserves consideration, after his Wimbledon win and his silver medal. The so-called Big Three - Federer, Djokovic and Nadal - have captured 29 of the previous 30 Grand Slam men's singles championships. Djokovic could continue that streak, but it is not automatic. He holds a 5-7 record this year against Federer, Nadal and Murray, including an 0-4 mark against them in recent matches, including a loss to Murray at the Olympics, albeit on grass. "It's amazing, those four guys," Vajda said. They have won for so long, but I've never seen them as equal, as close to each other, as they are right now. There is a big difference between those four and the other guys. But with them, you see it shifting. Shifting toward Murray and Djokovic, with Nadal out. Murray on Monday will play on an extra day's rest, which could provide an advantage, although probably less of one given how quickly Djokovic dispatched Ferrer. As Djokovic warmed up, the theme song from "Mission: Impossible" played over the Ashe speakers. His task did not seem so impossible hours later. "It's a great relief, obviously, to get it over in four sets," Djokovic said. I was a different player today. The same could be said of Djokovic in this tournament, of Murray, too, throughout these summer months. One of them will hold the United States Open trophy aloft Monday, and the landscape, for the best players, for men's tennis, will shift once more.