Djokovic gets past Federer to reach Open final

This was the 45th meeting between the two, with the score tied at 22 prior to the match, and Djokovic acknowledged the influence Federer and his other rival Nadal had on him: “Roger and Rafa have contributed a lot to my career”.

The volume grew even louder when Federer took the third set, Djokovic hitting a forehand long on set point.

The crowd at Rod Laver Arena leapt to its feet and roared when the Swiss great coverted for a 4-2 lead.

Novak Djokovic says emotions go up and down in a match and its important to keep it together especially through different thought processes.

The four-time Australian Open champion thrilled the crowd when he fought back to claim the third set.

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.

Djokovic won the second set in 32 minutes.

Federer also credited Djokovic’s performance in their semifinals match in Melbourne.

The first two sets, which Djokovic won in a swift 54 minutes, were especially stunning.

Unlike his fourth round tie against Giles Simon in which he produced 100 unforced errors, Djokovic’s accuracy and ball striking was precise as he stormed into a 6-1, 6-2 lead, recording only six mistakes.

Soares will partner Jamie Murray in Saturday’s men’s doubles final against Daniel Nestor and Radek Stepanek.

The match took one hour 42 minutes. Of her 25 previous major finals, Williams has won 21. She continued her ideal streak in seven Australian Open semifinals.

During the final set of their four-set duel, Federer served, down 30-15.

A rain-break only raised the tension as the players waited for the roof to close and then resumed to doggedly hold serve.

That was his final highlight of the night. “He’s the only guy that has been able to stop me as of late, and Stan (Wawrinka) when he was on fire when he was in Paris”, he added, referring to his loss to Wawrinka in last year’s French Open quarter-finals.

The steely Belgrade-born maestro blew the Swiss away for the best part of an hour at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.

Germany’s Angelique Kerber will meet Williams in the final, after the seventh seed ended the run of Britain’s Johanna Konta.

But the end came quickly in the fourth. Williams had 18 winners in the first set.

Last year Federer did beat Djokovic in Dubai, Cincinnati, and at the ATP World Tour Finals.

Murray and Raonic have met six times during their career, with each player coming away with three wins to their name. Konta was the first British woman since 1983 to reach the semifinals at a major tournament.

“It’s okay. I wish I could have played a bit better, and who knows what would have happened, but today Novak was very, very good – there’s no doubt about it”.

Roger Federer has scolded a reporter for asking a “stupid question” after it was suggested Novak Djokovic will face no great opponents in the future.