Djokovic powers past Federer
MELBOURNE: Novak Djokovic shattered the hopes of ailing rival Roger Federer yesterday to sweep into a record eighth Australian Open final and move closer to his 17th Grand Slam crown.
In the 50th installment of one of sport’s greatest rivalries, the Serb shrugged off a tentative start to reinforce his recent dominance, showing no mercy to the Swiss maestro in a 7-6 (7/1), 6-4, 6-3 win.
He will play either fifth seed Dominic Thiem or seventh-ranked German Alexander Zverev in Sunday’s final.
If any extra motivation was needed, winning on Sunday will see the Serb reclaim the No.1 ranking after Rafael Nadal was sent packing in the last eight.
“Respect to Roger for coming out tonight when he was obviously hurt and not even close to his best in terms of movement,” said defending champion Djokovic, who is into his 26th Grand Slam final.
Federer, the 2018 champion, came into the match carrying a groin injury that he picked up in his five-set, comefrom-behind quarter-final win against Tennys Sandgren.
Federer got out of the blocks briskly on a hot evening to wrest early initiative as Djokovic struggled with his service games.
Federer was up 4-1 and 40-0 on Djokovic’s serve but the Serb managed to save all three breakpoints to win his first service game as his opponent made an array of unforced errors.
The Swiss was not keen on engaging Djokovic in rallies and hit an incredible 26 winners in the first set.
But the count of his errors also started creeping up as Djokovic regained control to get the set back on serve and then played and took the set with an imperious display in tie-break.
Both players received medical attention at the end of the first set and it was once again Djokovic who raised his game up a notch to convert his fourth breakpoint chance with a forehand winner at the net to grab the second set.
Djokovic kept up the pressure on the 38-year-old Swiss in the third set and the crucial break came for him in the sixth game with a forehand groundstroke winner for a 4-2 lead.
The Serb sealed his 27th win over Federer with his first match point when the Swiss found the net with a backhand for his 35th unforced error of the night.