Top seed Roger Federer remained on course for his fourth consecutive US Open title by beating combative Russian Nikolay Davydenko 7-5, 6-1, 7-5 in the semifinals on Saturday.
In Sunday's final, the Swiss maestro will face Novak Djokovic, who became the first Serbian man to reach a grand slam final when he defeated Spain's David Ferrer 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.
Federer said Djokovic has done an "incredible job" this year climbing up the rankings to his current spot at number three.
"I can only be impressed by his performances because at this young age I never had results like this," Federer said of the 20-year-old Djokovic. "First grand slam final, obviously it's a big occasion for him."
Federer committed an uncharacteristic 25 unforced errors against Davydenko and had his serve broken five times.
But the 26-year-old Russian was broken nine times and won only 32 percent of his second serves while losing to the Swiss for the 10th time in a row.
"The wind definitely played a factor today," said Federer. "It was much easier to hold serve from the one end, obviously serving with the wind. We had to adjust our games and maybe not chase the lines so much, play more safe."
Fourth-seeded Davydenko broke Federer's serve in the first game of the match and led 3-1 before the world number one recovered to take the set in steamy Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Davydenko had two set points in the third set but Federer, bidding for his 12th grand slam title, fought back to secure the victory in two hours, 21 minutes.
Federer, 26, holds a 4-1 career record over Djokovic, but lost to the talented Serb in their last meeting, a three-set match last month in the Masters Series in Montreal.
"I think I'm ready and I need to be ready," Djokovic said of Sunday's final. "I need to believe in myself, because otherwise I wouldn't get the positive outcome. “