Novak Djokovic has hailed Roger Federer after the Swiss kept up his fine record of never retiring from a match. Federer prepared for his match with Djokovic at the Australian Open with doubts over his fitness due to an upper leg injury.
There were genuine fears Federer would not be able to play when he opted not to train on Wednesday and he practised away from prying eyes hours before playing Djokovic today.
But Federer took to the court against Djokovic and gave a more than credible performance despite the circumstances.
However, Djokovic was too strong and completed an impressive 7-6 6-4 6-3 win on Rod Laver Arena.
For Federer, it was the 1,512th match which Federer had started and finished.
It would have been easy for Federer to quit from the match given his struggles with movement, especially to his right side.
But he didn’t and Djokovic was full of praise for the 38-year-old.
He said: “Respect. It’s all I can say. I did have retirements throughout my career.
“I know how it feels when you’re hurt on the court. I know the amount of thoughts that go through your mind whether or not you should continue or not, whether it’s going to get worse.
“Only the player knows at that moment what you go through.
“Obviously it’s really hard to compare injuries, because everyone goes through their injury respectively individually.
“But it’s I think amazing fact that he has never retired his match, not a single match, throughout his career. Huge respect for that.”
Djokovic will play either Dominic Thiem or Alexander Zverev in the final on Sunday.
The Serbian has a winning record against both players and is looking forward to seeing how the second semi-final plays out.
He added: “Well, Dominic won our last match we played against each other, a close one in London. He played a terrific match against Rafa last night. I watched that. Definitely one of the best players in the world. Deserves to be where he is.
“It seems like he’s improved his game a lot on hard courts, because his game is more suitable to the slower surfaces. The clay of course being his favorite surface.
“But winning Indian Wells I think last year, beating Roger in the finals, that probably gave him a lot of confidence that he can win big tournaments on other surfaces, as well.
“Alex didn’t start the year very well. I watched his matches. I practiced with him in Brisbane during ATP Cup. He wasn’t feeling his best on the court, not much confidence.
“It’s impressive with the way he has been playing so far in this tournament, building his game, raising the level of tennis that he’s been playing.
“It’s his first semifinals of Grand Slam in his career, so I’m sure that he is motivated, he’s pumped to get at least a step further. It’s going to be really a good match to watch.”
