Tennis

Novak Djokovic sets up Roger Federer Australian Open semi-final with dominant win


Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer will meet for the 50th time on Thursday after they both booked their place in the Australian Open semi-finals. World No 3 Federer produced another stunning comeback to beat Tennys Sangren in five sets in the day session and Djokovic followed it up with a dominant win over Milos Raonic.

Djokovic steamrolled through his section of the draw and the clash with Raonic was no different.

The Canadian had been playing some of the best tennis of his career as he looks to return to his former heights, where he reached No 3 in the world rankings.

And his monstrous serve saw him sat fourth in the aces leaderboard ahead of the quarter-finals.

But Djokovic, the best returner in the world, was able to nullify that threat to storm to a routine 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(1) win.

The Serbian has only dropped one set en route to the final four and that came in his opening match against Jan-Lennard Struff.

Novak Djokovic needs contact lens change during match and makes Milos Raonic fume

It is unclear what state his semi-final opponent Federer will be in when they go head-to-head on Rod Laver Arena.

The 38-year-old, although he has not played any seeded players, has limped over the line in two of his last three matches.

In the third round, home favourite John Millman forced Federer into a remarkable comeback in the fifth-set tiebreak.

But his latest showdown with Sandgren was perhaps the most emotionally draining as Federer had to save seven match points as the tie went the distance.

And there was also a big injury scare as the 20-time Grand Slam winner took a nine-minute medical timeout because of an issue with his groin.

Federer will see his doctor tomorrow to get the full diagnosis but as things stand there are some concerns.

He said: “I don’t know if you can call it an injury. It’s just pain and problems. I need to figure it out now.

“But as it’s not like in 18 hours, like you got a third round to play, semifinals, you have an extra day, adrenaline, there’s a lot of things. Two good nights of sleep, doctors, physios.

“Hopefully we’ll find out that it’s actually nothing bad, that it was just the groin that went really tight from playing a lot, who knows what, from nerves. I don’t know.

“I’m hopeful. We’ll find out tonight, tomorrow. The next day we’ll see how it goes.”

Djokovic watched Federer battle back to book his place in the next round and he expected a difficult fight.

“What he did today was really amazing,” Djokovic said. “I mean, to come back and save seven match points at his age, I mean, he’s still playing such a great tennis and proving that he deserves to be up there. He’s a great fighter. Obviously I have lots of respect for him.

“But I’ve been feeling well on the court. I think if I continue playing the way I was throughout the tournament here and also ATP Cup, I’ve been building I think as the time passes by, in every match, I have more confidence, I feel better.

“In the end of the day, this is my favorite court, I mean, the court where I had the most success in my career. Hopefully things can come together for me in a positive way on Thursday and I can have a chance to win.”



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