Both Djokovic, Wawrinka arrive on rolls

NEW YORK — Novak Djokovic’s U.S. Open final against Stan Wawrinka on Sunday will be the Serb’s third Grand Slam title match of 2016 and his seventh in the past eight majors.

It is Djokovic’s 21st Grand Slam final in all, second in the history of men’s tennis only to Roger Federer’s 28. And it gives Djokovic the chance to gain more ground in the championship count, too, of course: He can raise his trophy total to 13, which would place him alone in fourth place behind Federer (17), Rafael Nadal (14) and Pete Sampras (14).

After a draining, and decidedly unusual, four-set victory over Gael Monfils in the semifinals Friday, when he got both shoulders massaged by a trainer, Djokovic looked forward to a bit of rest. That’s kind of rich, considering he has spent almost exactly half as much time on court as Wawrinka so far: a tad under 9 hours vs. slightly less than 18 hours.

“I have an extra day now to recover and get ready for the finals, which is, you know, where definitely I desire to be whenever I come to the Grand Slams,” said Djokovic, the No. 1 seed and defending champion. “I want to be able to put myself in position to fight for the trophy.”

As well they should be. For while No. 3 seed Wawrinka will be participating in only his third Grand Slam final, he won each of the other two. Plus, he has won each of his past 10 finals at all tournaments. And while he is only 4-19 against Djokovic over their careers, half of Wawrinka’s victories came en route to his major titles, in the quarterfinals of the 2014 Australian Open and the final of the 2015 French Open.