Djokovic Downs Federer to Reach Australian Open Final

World number one and defending champion Novak Djokovic moved past rival and third-seed Roger Federer 6-1, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 to reach his fifth Australian Open final in the last seven years.

In the 45th chapter of the still-being-written Djokovic vs. Federer rivalry, it was Djokovic who controlled this one from the start.

“I played unbelievable in the first two sets,” said Djokovic. “It was necessary against Roger, who was playing at a very high level during this tournament, only dropping one set. I knew he would be aggressive. I came out with the right intensity and executed everything perfectly. The two-set lead was comforting, but it was a battle in the end. At the end of the day, it’s important that your convictions are stronger than your doubts.”

Djokovic played lights out tennis in the first set. He broke Federer in the Swiss’ opening service game, and dropped just one point on his own first serve to win the opening set in just 22 minutes.

The second set wasn’t much different. Djokovic’s serve continued to be dominant as he didn’t face a single break point and won 86 percent of his first serve points. He would break Federer twice, and rolled to a commanding two sets to love lead.

Through those first two sets, Djokovic committed just six unforced errors. Federer turned up his play in the third set and was able to secure the set’s only break to force the match into a fourth set.

But Djokovic was just too tough. Even as Federer was able to win some fantastic points in that fourth set, the Serb would not give in on his own serve, never facing a break point in the final set and converting on his only break chance to defeat Federer for the 23rd time in his career.

“I knew that if I dropped my level or concentration or allowed myself to get distracted by anything that he would take the first opportunity to jump on me and just take the lead off the rallies,” said Djokovic. “That’s what he did in the third. He just waits for a little drop from his opponent. That’s why he’s been so successful throughout his career. But I was aware of that before the match, so psychologically I did not allow myself to have big oscillations. Of course, there was a lot of excitement from the crowd towards the end of the third set. Then of course they got into it. It was a great atmosphere. But I’ve played in these particular situations before, and managed to use that experience.”

Djokovic now leads the head-to-head between these two greats for the first time in the rivalry.

The Serb is now into his sixth Australian Open final and awaits the winner of the match between second-seeded Andy Murray and 13th-seeded Milos Raonic, who will play their semifinal later today. Djokovic is 5-0 all-time in the Melbourne final, with those three of those wins coming against Murray.