US Open Tennis 2018 Results: Friday Winners, Scores, Stats, Singles Draw Update

Juan Martin del Potro became the first man to secure a spot in the 2018 U.S. Open final on Sunday by knocking off Rafael Nadal. 

The second semifinal saw Novak Djokovic secure his spot in Sunday's match thanks to a straight-sets win over Kei Nishikori. 

Del Potro is one win away from capturing his second-ever Grand Slam title. The 29-year-old previously won the U.S. Open in 2009 when he defeated Roger Federer. This also marks Delpo's first Grand Slam final since that victory. 

No. 6 Novak Djokovic def. No. 21 Kei Nishikori: 6-3, 6-4, 6-2

The stage is set for Djokovic to capture his second Grand Slam title of the year after breezing past 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win over Nishikori. 

It would be hard to find many tournaments that Djokovic hasn't had success throughout his career, but the U.S. Open has been particularly fruitful. He's won the year's final Grand Slam title twice in seven previous appearances in the final.

Adding to Djokovic's historic night, he moved into sole possession of third place for most appearances in a major tournament final:

Per ATP World Tour, Djokovic's eight U.S. Open finals are tied with Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras for most in the Open Era. His last win at the event came in 2015 when he defeated Federer. 

Djokovic ended Nishikori's run thanks to incredible success with his serve. The sixth-seed won 59 of 77 total serves, including 39 of 49 first-serve attempts. He only gave Nishikori two break-point chances, which he failed to take advantage of. 

After a brief rally on match point, Djokovic put Nishikori away with a perfectly-placed shot that the Japanese star had no answer for:

Looking ahead to the final, Djokovic has owned the head-to-head rivalry with del Potro with a 14-4 record. Del Potro did win their last high-profile meeting in the Round of 64 at the 2016 Olympics, but Djoker has won each of their four matchups in majors dating back to the 2007 U.S. Open. 

No. 3 Juan Martin del Potro def. No. 1 Rafael Nadal: 7-6(3), 6-2 (Retired)

Seemingly still feeling the effects from his nearly five-hour marathon against Dominic Thiem on Wednesday, Nadal was forced to retire in the semifinal after Del Potro took the first two sets. 

Rafa received medical treatment on multiple occasions during the match. The first instance came when Nadal and Del Potro were changing ends midway through the first set. A trainer wrapped up his right knee that he previously had looked at in the third round against Karen Khachanov. 

Ben Rothenberg of the New York Times noted this isn't the first time this situation has happened to Nadal in 2018:

"Of course it's not the best way to win a match," Del Potro told ESPN after the match (h/t NBC Sports' Nick Zaccardi). "I love to play with Rafa because he's the biggest fighter in this sport. I don't like to see him suffering on court like today, so I'm sad for him."

While this may not be the way Del Potro envisioned his semifinal match going, it does give him a potentially significant advantage heading into the final. 

According to IBM Slamtracker, Del Potro covered a total of 7,009.4 feet in two sets with Nadal. For comparison, Djokvoic ran 13,689.9 feet in a straight-set win against John Millman in the quarterfinals. 

It was also a historic victory for Del Potro, per Christopher Clarey of the New York Times:

Del Potro is now one step away from reaching the top of the tennis mountain again three years after serious wrist problems caused him to plummet to No. 1,045 in the world rankings.