Play under way on Day 11 of Australian Open

Novak Djokovic has a larger than life presence at the Australian Open.

Williams has won every semifinal she’s contested at Melbourne Park, and gone on to win the title each time.

Williams had medical treatment between sets, and again in the second during a changeover, but it wasn’t clear what the problem was. It was definitely key to the rest of the match, I think.

Four-time champion Federer capped the afternoon session with a 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-4 win over No. 6 Tomas Berdych, reaching his 12th Australian Open semifinal and his 39th in a Grand Slam.

It’s semi-final time at Melbourne Park and the tennis complex is abuzz with excitement.

The tiebreaker will be tricky.

“There s a lot of tension”. There’s a lot at stake.

“I think he’s still on a pretty high level, playing great tennis”.

In men’s doubles, Vancouver’s Vasek Pospisil and American partner Jack Sock lost their quarter-final match to Spain’s Marcel Granollers and Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas in three sets.

Women’s champion Serena Williams, bidding for her 22nd grand slam title, will have to overcome number four seed Agnieszka Radwanska in the first singles semi-final at the Rod Laver Arena, which starts at 3.30 am Nigerian time. In the three Grand Slam finals the Swiss has reached since his last Major title in 2012, Djokovic has been his vanquisher on each occasion.

And Evert reckons the Russian provokes Williams into playing her best. He knows anything less than that against Federer won’t be good enough.

This matchup has become the premiere match in tennis over the last few years, in partas a result of other top player Rafael Nadal has been sidelined and hampered by injuries. But he played good tennis.

Williams attacked Sharapova’s strength, targeting the five-time Grand Slam winner’s improving serve.

Williams remains unbeaten in nine matches against Radwanska, whom she beat in the 2012 Wimbledon final. “She was really explosive off the return”. Despite more than 11 years in between, Sharapova isn’t giving up hope of breaking that drought.

“It’s motivating because she’s at a different level”. She makes you go back to the drawing board, not just for me, but for many other players.

“Roger always makes you play your best”.

Federer also has some inspiration in his next match against Djokovic, namely the recent losses.

“It would mean a lot to me, no doubt about it”, Federer said. In important points and moments I managed to stay composed and make him play an extra shot. The Swiss legend was too strong for the 20-year-old Serb, winning in straight sets 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/2), 6-4, but Djokovic led 6-5 in both the first two sets and held five set points in the opening set.

ATP Chairman Chris Kermode said the reports contained “very, very serious allegations” that have “caused damage to the sport, which is why we’ve acted so quickly and made decisions”. “(I) lost many easy games”, said Nishikori, who was also troubled by a leg injury. That was down to one very off day, a poor performance in his fourth round victory over Gilles Simon. I feel like I’m competitive at the top.

“It’s pretty quick, but they have to know that they’re going to play at night, much slower”.