NEW YORK (AP):

The weather was much better at the US Open yesterday. So was Novak Djokovic.

Under a cloudless blue sky, in only a hint of wind, defending champion Djokovic got his game into high gear and reached his third consecutive final at Flushing Meadows by beating fourth-seeded David Ferrer of Spain 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in a match suspended a day earlier.

''I was a different player,'' the second-seeded Djokovic said. ''I felt much more comfortable on the court today than I did yesterday, (when) obviously the conditions were more brutal.''

Ferrer led a shaky Djokovic 5-2 in the semi-final's opening set Saturday, when wind was whipping at more than 20 mph and play was halted because of an impending rainstorm. When they resumed about 18 hours later, Ferrer held serve to take that set - and then Djokovic quickly took control, using the brand of defence-to-offence baseline excellence that has carried the Serb to four of the past seven Grand Slam titles.

''We were all praying for less wind today,'' Djokovic said. ''He handled the wind much better than I did.''

In Monday's final, Djokovic will face Olympic champion Andy Murray, who beat Tomas Berdych 5-7, 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (7) on Saturday. It's the fifth consecutive year the US Open men's title match has been played a day later than planned.

The third-seeded Murray was able to enjoy a day off yesterday, while Djokovic had to put in some work. But in the end, it wasn't too taxing: Djokovic played only about two hours and was finished with Ferrer by 1:20 p.m., giving him more than 24 hours to rest before taking on Murray.

''I don't feel any problems physically. ... It was good to have the job done in four sets,'' Djokovic said. ''I feel as fresh as I can be at this stage of the tournament.''

Murray is one of only two men to lose each of his first four major finals - his coach, Ivan Lendl, is the other - and he'll try to avoid dropping to 0-5. He'll also try to become the first British man since Fred Perry in 1936 to win any of tennis' four most important tournaments.