Top seed Novak Djokovic saw off a thrilling fight-back by his great rival Roger Federer to reach his sixth Australian Open final and fifth consecutive Grand Slam title match on Thursday.
Top seed Novak Djokovic saw off a thrilling fight-back by his great rival Roger Federer to reach his sixth Australian Open final and fifth consecutive Grand Slam title match on Thursday.
The Serbian world number one downed third seed Federer 6-1, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in two hours, 19 minutes and will face either Andy Murray or Milos Raonic in Sunday’s final.
It was the 45th meeting between the two greats with Djokovic now edging ahead of Federer 23-22 in their head-to-head duels.
The amazing Serb continued his recent domination over the 17-time Grand Slam champion and on Sunday, he will become the first man in the Open era to contest six Australian Open finals. “I played an unbelievable first two sets but that is what is necessary against Roger as he has been playing at a very high level in this tournament,” Djokovic said.
“I knew he was going to be aggressive and mix up the pace and try to come to the net, but I came out with the right intensity with great concentration and I executed everything perfect.
“But it was a battle in the end.”
It will also be Djokovic’s 19th Grand Slam final overall and he moves into equal-third place with Ivan Lendl on the all-time list of most appearances in major finals, which is headed by Federer.
Serena gunning for Graf record An imperious Serena Williams set up a crack at her seventh Australian Open title Thursday by trampling Agnieszka Radwanska, with only Angelique Kerber now capable of stopping her equalling Steffi Graf’s Open-era record of 22 Grand Slam triumphs.
The dominant top seed was in inspirational form as she pummelled the Pole 6-0, 6-4 on Rod Laver Arena, with the stunned fourth seed calling the opening set the best tennis she had ever faced.
It set Williams up for a 26th Grand Slam final as she zeroes in on a seventh Australian Open title and a bid to match’s Graf’s record. Margaret Court holds the all-time record of 24 major wins.
Germany’s Kerber earned her right to face Williams by beating unseeded Briton Johanna Konta 7-5, 6-2 to sweep into her maiden Grand Slam final.
It marked the first time a German has reached the final at Melbourne Park since Anke Huber in 1996, but Kerber faces a monumental task with the American powerhouse across the net in Saturday’s decider.
Sania-Dodig in mixed doubles semis Sania Mirza and her Croatian partner Ivan Dodig entered the mixed doubles semi-finals at the Australian Open after posting straight-set win over defending champions Leander Paes and Martina Hingis.
Sania and Dodig got the better of Indo-Swiss pair of Paes and Hingis 7-6(1) 6-3 in the quarter-final encounter.
The top seeded Indo-Croat pair will next face fifth seeds Elena Vesnina and Bruno Soares for a spot in the final.
