Roger Federer should have lost the first set of the US Open final last night and he was within a lick of paint of losing the second. And so to see the world No 1 lift the trophy for the fourth time in succession to secure his twelfth grand-slam tournament title spoke further volumes of the extraordinary aura of the man-in-black from Basle.

Novak Djokovic does not need anyone to tell him how close he came to making wondrous history for Serbia. The 20-year-old illustrated to the biggest audience of his life that he has the makings of a grand-slam champion – all he needs is an adjustment here and there and an ability to hold his nerve when opportunities present themselves. For this match – like the Wimbledon final when Rafael Nadal, of Spain, twice had two break points on Federer’s serve in the final set – demonstrated that points which seem simple against mortal men take on a whole new meaning when Federer is staring them down.

Djokovic, who had added glamour in his entourage in the presence of Maria Sharapova, the women’s champion here last year, pushed Federer all the way and at times made him look moderate. But that was never enough to deny the 26-year-old Swiss his 7-6, 7-6, 6-4 victory, $2.4 million (about £1.18 million) in prize-money for his hard-court endeavours this summer and stealthy progress to within two titles of equalling Pete Sampras’s record of 14 grand-slam victories.

Such was the popularity that Djokovic had gained during the tournament, not least for his skills as an imitator of fellow players, both male and female, that he had been booked to appear tonight on the David Letterman show, one of America’s famed late-night reviews. The producers had not minded whether he was the champion or runner-up.

After his defeat by Djokovic in the final of the Montreal Masters Series event last month, Federer did not want his young opponent to gain any kind of advantage. A notedly reluctant supporter of line-calling technology, the Swiss chose to challenge two calls in the opening two games and was proved right on both occasions. Points against serve were at a premium until the eleventh game, when Federer’s famed forehand suddenly began to creak. Djokovic had not previously felt the weight of being Serbia’s first male grand-slam tournament finalist until he stood on the verge of capturing the set that was the one, by majority consent, he needed to win if he was to make a real fist of his challenge.

With the balls in his hand at 6-5, Djokovic raced away with the first three points, to the third of which – an ace – Federer’s shoulders noticeably slumped. The Swiss struck a forehand winner to erase the first set point, watched Djokovic miss with backhands on the next two (Federer hit the baseline with consecutive groundstrokes on the second), err twice more on set points four and five and then double-fault when the champion had managed to earn a break point. Djokovic struck first in the tie-break but served the first of two more double faults, and Federer needed no further invitation.

Similarly in the second set, it was Federer whose serve buckled first, trailing 3-1 only for Djokovic to disintegrate in the seventh game. But the Serb gritted his teeth once more and, in the twelfth game, had Federer teetering once more at 40-15 down. What did the Swiss do? He served an ace and then lured Djokovic into a backhand that missed by a whisker before setting off on a sequence of seven beautiful, classically varied first serves that took the second set into a tie-break and allowed Djokovic just two points in it. The highlight was a clean backhand pass that must have felt like a knee in the Serb’s groin.