NEW YORK: Defending champion Novak Djokovic swept into his third consecutive US Open final, setting up a title showdown with Britain’s Andy Murray, with a 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 win over Spain’s David Ferrer yesterday.

Ferrer had led 5-2 in the first set overnight when the semifinal was suspended due to violent storms, which battered New York, but Djokovic thrived under clear blue skies yesterday, allowing the Spaniard just eight more games.

The victory gave the second-seeded Serb a year-leading 60th win and extended his winning run at hardcourt Grand Slams to 27 matches.

Djokovic will be aiming for a sixth major in Monday’s final while third-seed Murray, who trails the Serb 8-6 in career meetings, is bidding to become Britain’s first men’s Grand Slam champion since Fred Perry in 1936.

Victory by the Serb in the championship match would mean 30 out of the last 31 majors have been won by either Djokovic, Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal.

“We were all praying for less wind today. He handled it better than I did yesterday but I came into today a different player,” said Djokovic.

“Against Andy, there will be no clear favorite. He’s going for a first Grand Slam and will be very motivated. Hopefully we will both come up with our best tennis.” Ferrer quickly wrapped up the opening set on Sunday’s resumption before Djokovic, who hadn’t dropped a set in the tournament, made the fourth seed pay, racing into a 5-0 lead in the second, even saving three break points in the fifth game in the process.

Ferrer, playing in his second US Open semifinal and bidding to make the final at a major at the 40th attempt, saved three set points in the seventh game before the champion levelled the semifinal.

The world No.2, who had been unsettled by Saturday’s storm-filled skies, broke in the opening game of the third set as the faster, hotter conditions played into his hands.

Ferrer briefly rallied for 2-2 before the Serb broke again for 4-3, going on to serve two love games to take the set with a fifth ace of the contest.

Two more comfortable breaks allowed Djokovic to sweep to a 3-0 advantage in the fourth set as Ferrer wilted under a relentless barrage of pinpoint groundstrokes.

It was all over when Djokovic confidently put away a forehand volley.

Murray, trying to become the first British man to win a Grand Slam title since 1936, withstood blustery conditions Saturday to beat Tomas Berdych. Third seed Murray advanced by defeating the Czech sixth seed 5-7, 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (9/7).

“It was brutal,” Murray said, after a tornado warning had been issued earlier in the day.

Trying to end a British men’s Slam drought dating to Fred Perry’s 1936 US title, the lanky 25-year-old Scotsman battled through brutal winds to reach his fifth career Grand Slam final, his second in a row after falling at Wimbledon.

After collecting an Olympic crown last month, avenging his Wimbledon final loss to Roger Federer in the final, this might at last be Murray’s moment.

“I hope so,” Murray said. “You can never say for sure. I know how hard these tournaments are to win. When the conditions are like they were today anything can happen. You have to be there from the first point to the last.” Murray and his coach, eight-time Grand Slam champion Ivan Lendl, are the only Open-era players to drop their first four Grand Slam finals, Murray losing at the 2008 US Open, 2010 and 2011 Australian Opens and last June at Wimbledon.

Despite wicked breezes, Murray connected on 74 percent of his first serves and won 73 percent of those points while making only 20 unforced errors to 64 for Berdych.

“The wind blew it away for me,” Berdych said. “It was really hard to play a passing shot in this kind of weather, but on the other hand, it was also tough not to make mistakes and be aggressive.” Wind gusts whipped the net and players’ clothing, played havoc with many serve tosses, blew food wrappers across the court to foil several points and even sent Murray’s chair and racquet bag onto the playing area late in the second set.

“You had to focus for every single point. You had to get in position for every shot. You weren’t going for aces because it was hard enough to get the second serves in,” said Murray.

Umpire Pascal Maria turned off the electronic system to signal let serves after wind gusts set off random beeps.

“This is not about show. This is just about somehow to try to deal with the conditions and then trying to put ball over the net,” Berdych said. “Sometimes was impossible.” Murray, also trying to become the first man to win the Olympic and US Open titles in the same year, will overtake Spain’s Rafael Nadal as World No. 3 in Monday’s world rankings.

This is the first Grand Slam event since the 2004 French Open without either Nadal or Roger Federer in the semi-finals. Nadal was absent with a knee injury while Swiss top seed Federer was ousted by Berdych in the quarterfinals.

With Scottish actor Sean Connery among those watching, Murray dominated the second set and broke Berdych at love to open the third set and again in the third and final games, then broke for a 2-0 lead in the fourth set.

Berdych, who will match his career-best ranking of sixth on Monday, broke back in the fifth game and they held to the tie-break, where Berdych took a 5-2 lead on a 129-mph ace but errors on the next three points pulled Murray even.

Murray, who lost four of six prior matches to Berdych, took advantage on his second match point to end it two minutes shy of four hours.

“I just tried to hang on and got through in the end,” Murray said.