After the match, per Beattie, Djokovic couldn’t recall playing a better stretch of tennis against his foe during their decade-long rivalry. She continued her flawless streak in seven Australian Open semifinals.
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In 2007 he pummeled Andy Roddick at a time when the American probably thought he could finally get the better of the Swiss at a major.
How can a 34-year-old win this point, perhaps the best of the tournament?
Novak Djokovic has won the second set 6-2 of his semifinal against Roger Federer after taking the first 6-1. Williams remained unbeaten in nine matches against Radwanska, whom she beat in the 2012 Wimbledon final.
– Novak Djokovic called it the best he has ever played against old foe Roger Federer. He would also equal Roy Emerson’s record of six Australian Open titles. A love hold was all it took to seal a 19th Major final for Djokovic after 2hrs 19mins. He’s in his comfort zone more.
Serbian sports newspaper Sportske reporter Darko Mitrovic wrote that a phenomenal Djokovic had “wiped out” a “completely powerless” Federer. But when asked if he could beat Djokovic again on the big stage, he bristled. But it’s no problem for me.
“I think it’s possible”.
“I have self-confidence as well, you know. I know you guys make it a different case”. “But it’s no problem for me”. A game later, he served out the twenty-two minutes opening set.
Save for his five-set Round of 16 match against Gilles Simon in which he made a staggering 100 unforced errors, Djokovic has managed to get on and off court with speed and relative ease this tournament.
Williams was in similarly dominant form in her semi-final as she set up a date on Saturday with Germany’s Angelique Kerber, who reached her first grand slam final by ending Briton Johanna Konta’s fairytale run 7-5 6-2.
A father of four, Federer has two sets of twins. Maybe parts of my game, maybe parts of his game just matched up in a tough way and the first set ran away very quickly.
The No. 3-ranked Federer saved a break point in the first game and held serve, as the crowd roared trying to pull the Swiss star back into the match.
Six years Djokovic’s senior, Federer simply may not have the dynamism to oust his rival over five sets – a theory he disagrees with.
“I played an unbelievable first two sets”, Djokovic said. “Before you can really do something, a lot of tennis has been played in 45 minutes and it’s tough to get back into it”.
Earlier in the day Serena Williams had blown away Agnieszka Radwanska 6-0 in a 20-minute opening set and Djokovic was only marginally less brutal as he annihilated his opponent 6-1 in 22 minutes. Yet he didn’t surrender in the third.
Federer continues to set records all the time. He and Stan Wawrinka won a doubles Olympic gold in 2008, and he and Hingis plan to play mixed-doubles at the Games this summer. The crowd in Rod Laver Arena erupted when he somehow chased down a Djokovic drop shot to earn a break point against the Serb. Risky. But it had worked in spurts.
The Swiss threw caution to the wind by attempting a second-serve serve-and-volley but Djokovic blasted a marvellous cross-court return to capture the decisive break.
He served it out impeccably and can now look ahead to Sunday.
Novak Djokovic has resisted a stirring fightback by Roger Federer to advance to a sixth Australian Open final in breathtaking fashion at Melbourne Park. He has never lost to Raonic, the big-serving Canadian, in five matches.
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At this point, it’d be weird watching a men’s final without Djokovic.
