Novak Djokovic once again beat great rival Roger Federer at a Grand Slam on Thursday with a 7-6, 6-4 and 6-3 win to reach the Australian Open final and remain on course for a record-extending eighth title at Melbourne Park.
It was the 50th act of one of the greatest rivalries of the sport and the odds were heavily stacked against Federer as the Swiss had not beaten the Serb at a major since 2012.
Fed’s Oz campaign had been far from smooth as he was two points from losing in the third round and then saved seven match points to get past the quarterfinal stage.
The 20-time Grand Slam winner, however, got out of the blocks briskly.
GREAT RESPECT: Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have a respected rivalry. Picture: Issei Kato/Reuters.
Federer was up 4-1 and 40-0 on Djokovic’s serve but the Serb saved all three breakpoints to win his first service game as his opponent made an array of unforced errors.
The Swiss, who had to take a lengthy medical timeout against Sandgren for a groin problem, was not keen on engaging Djokovic in rallies and hit an incredible 26 winners in the first set.
But the error count creeped up as Djokovic took the set back on serve and took the set with a tiebreak.
From there, Djokovic powered into Sunday's final.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/DjokerNole?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DjokerNoleseems to have the winning formula in Melbourne. #AO2020| #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/eBWA8KlTVg
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen)
Djokovic will now meet the winner of the other semifinal between Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem, who play at 10.30am today.