Australian Open: Djokovic, Federer, Serena Through To Semis

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic will face Roger Federer in a blockbuster semi-final clash at the Australian Open after dismissing Kei Nishikori 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday night in Melbourne.

The creation of the review, which was earlier reported by The Associated Press, was announced at the Australian Open today.

Top-ranked titleholder Novak Djokovic has set up a dream Australian Open semi-final against Roger Federer with a straight-sets win over Kei Nishikori.

It meant the five-time Grand Slam winner’s demoralising jinx against Williams remains intact, dating back to 2004 when she last beat her in the Wimbledon final.

“It’s always a great challenge”.

The semifinal on Thursday promises to be a test of Djokovic’s continued dominance of men’s tennis, after losing but one Grand Slam match last season.

Nishikori beat Djokovic in the 2014 US Open semi-finals but he was never in a place to reproduce that kind of performance against the Serb in their Melbourne quarter-final. They rank first (Djokovic) and second (Federer) in hard-court win percentage among men in the Open era (minimum 200 matches played).

It will be a rematch of last year’s final at the U.S. Open and at Wimbledon, both of which Djokovic won.

Prediction: Djokovic in 5 sets. The signs are not good for Radwanska, despite her convincing 6-1, 6-3 win over Spanish 10th seed Carla Suarez on Rod Laver Arena.

The head-to-head between the pair now lies firmly in the balance at 22 wins each but Djokovic has the edge in recent match-ups, winning their last three meetings in grand slams. “It s part of the reason why I m still playing”, Federer said. The 34-year-old Federer used a full array of shots, including some vintage backhands, in his 48 winners, to avenge losses to Berdych at Wimbledon in 2010 and the 2012 U.S. Open.“Tomas has caused me a lot of problems over the years, ” said Federer, who improved to 16-6 against the Czech player. On her Facebook page, the world No 7 looked back on the time with her compatriot: “We had a great run together, two Wimbledons, 17 titles and enjoyed many laughs. If she wins, I’ll be very happy for her. I’m sure she’ll feel the same way”, Williams said.

Djokovic, with his win over Nishikori, is on a 19-match Grand Slam winning streak and has not lost at a major tournament since he was defeated by Stanislas Wawrinka in last year’s French Open final.

“It was super intense”, said Williams. The Serb holds the record here for the most titles won and is the only player to have won this tournament three consecutive times (2011-2013). “I can beat all the guys on Tour”, said the Swiss, after trouncing Tomas Berdych in the quarter-finals.

“He’s a great champion, I have a lot of respect for him and we’re going to have a good match”.

“I think it’s more (about hitting) a reset button because I think I’ve played a lot of tennis in the last four or five weeks”. Djokovic has progressed twice to win the competition, while Federer had to make do with one.

Williams started slowly and was certainly not at her barnstorming best but it is ominous for the rest of the draw that she won with so much to spare.

“I’ve been playing this whole week aggressively, but I didn’t start out playing that way today”, said Serena.