Novak Djokovic advanced to his sixth Australian Open final with a 6-1 6-2 3-6 6-3 victory over Roger Federer.
The world number one dominated the first two sets with some superb hitting, then had to hold off a spirited Federer fightback.
According to BBC, it is the third straight Grand Slam in which Djokovic has beaten the Swiss, prolonging Federer’s wait for an 18th major title.
Djokovic will face Andy Murray or Canada’s Milos Raonic in the final.
The Serb has beaten British number one Murray in the final on three previous occasions in the final, including last year’s four-set victory.
“I played unbelievably in the first two sets but I needed to because Roger has been playing unbelievably and I knew he would be aggressive,” Djokovic said.
Before the match, much attention had focused on the first set, with Federer never having beaten Djokovic in a best-of-five match having dropped the opener.
But it was barely a contest as Djokovic twice broke the world number three in his opening three service games.
Pummelling Federer with deep groundstrokes and using clever changes of pace to induce 12 unforced errors from his opponent, the Serb wrapped up the set inside 23 minutes.
And he was no less dominant in the second, decisively breaking to love in the third game as he threatened to hand a rattled Federer one of his worst ever defeats.
Not since a 2001 loss to Andre Agassi at the US Open had Federer been limited to just three games in the first two sets.
Posted by Janice Johnson
