Djokovic survives 5-set scare, moves on to Australian Open quarterfinals

With a poster of Roger Federer on his bedroom wall, a teenage David Goffin used to watch his idol on television and marvel at what he was seeing.

Federer said: ‘I’ve known Tomas a long time now, over 10 years on tour.

The task doesn’t get any easier for Djokovic in the quarterfinals as he will face No. 7 Kei Nishikori – who is terrific on the hard courts.

“OK, thanks buddy”, Djokovic deadpanned.

Djokovic halted his interview and asked the fan to repeat his advice before replying over the microphone: “I hate to say it, but you’re absolutely right”.

Centuries are celebrated across the train tracks at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, but not in the unforced errors column at Rod Laver. But only just. While Federer had little trouble breezing through his fourth round match in Melbourne on Sunday night, Djokovic was as taken the distance in a tussle far tighter than surely anyone would have anticipated. He was playing well.

The Swiss replied, “Yeah, the one thing in tennis they tell me is I should – once they told me I should play on the lines”.

“I was obviously pleased to win the match, but in terms of the performance itself, I haven’t done well at all…”

Williams, seeking her seventh title here, broke fifth-seeded Sharapova’s serve and clinched an entertaining first set on her fourth set points.

Williams attacked Sharapova’s strength, targeting the five-time Grand Slam winner’s improving serve. Djokovic lost only one of his 28 Grand Slam matches in 2015 to Stan Wawrinka in the French Open final and has won 37 of his last 38 matches at Melbourne Park, a run that includes four titles.

That’s the driving factor here.

“For my whole career, I have been motivated by losses, ” Williams said after beating Margarita Gasparyan 6-2 6-1 in just 55 minutes.

But that approach is what has helped win her 21 major titles, and Williams’ aggressive returns finally helped her convert on her fourth set point, following a heavy ground stroke to the net and putting away a volley. “So each time I take a loss, I feel like I get better”. In important points and moments I managed to stay composed and make him play an extra shot.

“His achievements, what he has done for the sport-he’s a great champion and someone I have a lot of respect for”, Djokovic said of Federer.

While her record against Williams is not yet on the scale of Sharapova, it is still dismal.

“It was super intense”, Williams said.

Sharapova won consecutive matches against Williams in 2004 at Wimbledon and the season-ending championships, but has lost all 17 meetings since. It’s a statistic she tries to block from her mind. “It’s not like I think about, ‘What can I do worse?'” Sharapova said. “You’re always trying to improve”, she said.

“It’s nice now that in the last three slams that I’ve been as consistent as I have been”. “A lot of players will feel better with Novak out of the draw”. It’s only going to be tougher, especially against Serena.

Djokovic has played five and had already booked a place in his sixth when the traditional festive fireworks lit up the skies over Melbourne to celebrate the national holiday. Some sound words indeed and Djokovic may need them when he takes on Kei Nishikori, who was mighty impressive in dispatching Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to reach the last-eight.

Federer crushed sixth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 6-4 in his quarter-final earlier on Tuesday to progress to the last four at a major for a mind-boggling 40th time.