NEW YORK: Roger Federer is 34. It’s been more than three years since he won a Grand Slam title. He’s been considered past his prime for quite some time.

And he might just be playing some of the top tennis of his career at the moment.

Federer moved into his first US Open final since 2009 with the latest in a string of dominating performances, overwhelming longtime pal and Swiss Olympic and Davis Cup teammate Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 on Friday night.

“Tried very hard in the last six years to get back in another final,” Federer said. “Came close a few times.”

As for the quality of his play over the past two weeks — he has won all 18 sets he’s played and been broken only twice — Federer said: “It’s definitely very good, maybe my best, I’m not sure. I’m serving very well. I’m playing positive tennis. I’m going for my shots, and it seems to work. I’d love it to work just one more time.”

Against Wawrinka, Federer saved all four break points he faced, won a “did-I-read-that-right?” 80 percent of his first serve points and limited himself to only 17 unforced errors.

Believe it or not, the other men’s match Friday was even less competitive: Novak Djokovic beat defending champion Marin Cilic 6-0, 6-1, 6-2, the most lopsided semifinal in New York in the Open era, which started in 1968. Cilic was hampered by a right ankle injury he picked up in the fourth round.

Those results set up a blockbuster for Sunday’s final: No. 1 Djokovic, owner of nine major titles, against No. 2 Federer, owner of a record 17.

“I like that challenge,” Federer said, “and I’ll be ready for it.”

It is their 42nd career matchup overall, with Federer winning 21, including their most recent, on a hard court last month at the Cincinnati Masters. This will be their sixth meeting of 2015, all in finals, and Djokovic has won four of those, including the Wimbledon final two months ago.

On the same day that Serena Williams’ bid for a calendar-year Grand Slam ended with a semifinal loss to Roberta Vinci, Djokovic made it to his fourth major final of the year. He won the Australian Open in January, lost to Warinka at the French Open in June, and won Wimbledon in July.

Federer won five consecutive US Open titles from 2004-08, then lost to Juan Martin del Potro in the final six years ago.

For Djokovic, it’s his sixth trip to the final at Flushing Meadows. So far, though, he is 1-4, with his lone US Open title coming in 2011.

Mahut, Herbert win US Open men’s doubles crown

Frenchmen Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert won the US Open men’s doubles crown on Saturday with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Britain’s Jamie Murray and Australian John Peers.

Mahut and Herbert became the first all-French duo to capture a US Open men’s doubles title. It was also their first Grand Slam men’s doubles crown.

They were Australian Open runners-up earlier this year while Murray and Peers suffered another near miss, having lost the Wimbledon final in July.

The French duo had won their only prior meeting with Murray and Peers in a ‘s-Hertogenbosch semifinal earlier this year.

Herbert was 0-4 at Slams before teaming up with Mahut at this year’s Australian Open and they are 14-3 since.

Both Mahut and Herbert reached an ATP singles final this year as a qualifier, Herbert losing at Winston-Salem and Mahut winning at ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

Murray, the brother of former singles champion Andy Murray, was 9-23 in majors before partnering with Peers at the 2013 French Open and they have gone 23-10 since.

Other than US siblings Bob and Mike Bryan, Murray and Peers are the first team since Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic to reach consecutive Slam men’s doubles final since the 2010 French Open.