NOVAK DJOKOVIC HAMMERED an off-key Kei Nishikori and Roger Federer put on a masterclass against Tomas Berdych as they set up a dream semi-final at the Australian Open.
Defending champion Djokovic recovered strongly from his five-set struggle against Gilles Simon as he ousted Nishikori 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, after Federer swept aside Berdych 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-4.
Djokovic is seeking his 11th Grand Slam title while Federer, 34, is looking to extend his record tally to 18 — and both will want to take charge of their head-to-head, which is locked at 22-22.
“Any round (against Federer) feels like a final because of the fact that we are, you know, big rivals, we played so many times against each other,” Djokovic said.
There’s a lot of tension. There’s a lot at stake. I’m expecting a great fight in two days.
Both players will have a close eye on Wednesday’s quarter-finals pitting Andy Murray against David Ferrer and Milos Raonic against Gael Monfils.
Djokovic will start as favourite against Federer after he beat him in the Wimbledon and US Open finals last year on his way to winning three Grand Slam titles and finishing runner-up at the French Open.
The Serb made 100 unforced errors and was pushed all the way in Sunday’s five-set struggle with Simon, but he said a day away from tennis had done him the world of good.
“I didn’t practice yesterday. I didn’t hit a tennis ball,” he said. “It happens sometimes, it’s actually good to rest your mind, rest your body. Less is more sometimes.”
- ‘It means a lot’ -
Thursday’s semi-final promises to be a test of Djokovic’s continued dominance of men’s tennis, after his achievement in losing only one Grand Slam match last season.
In a sign of the pair’s hold on men’s tennis, Federer is into his 39th Grand Slam semi-final while Djokovic has 29. They were both on court for little over two hours on Tuesday.
Djokovic only hit 11 groundstroke winners in disposing of Nishikori, who made a total of 54 unforced errors and had his service broken six times.
“I think today was more (about) my game. I was missing too much, especially first couple sets. Lost many easy games,” said Nishikori, who was also troubled by a leg injury.
I couldn’t make him work hard today. I mean, yes, he played good. But I couldn’t play good tennis today.
Earlier Federer reached his 12th Australian Open semi-final in 13 years with a clinical straight-sets win over Berdych in two hours, 16 minutes.
The Swiss has high hopes he can add a fifth Australian Open title, even though his last Grand Slam success was back at Wimbledon in 2012.
“It means a lot. It’s part of the reason why I’m still playing,” Federer said. “I feel like I’m competitive at the top. I can beat all the guys on tour.
“It’s nice now that in the last three Slams that I’ve been as consistent as I have been.”
Federer said he was enjoying his tennis after adding former world number three Ivan Ljubicic to his coaching team, along with long-time mentor Severin Luthi.
I’m playing good tennis, fun tennis for me anyway. I really enjoy being able to come to the net more like back in the day.
“So I’m very pleased. It would mean a lot to me (to win more Slams), no doubt about it.”
The world number three had few concerns against the strong-serving Berdych and extended his career record to 16-6 to deny the Czech a third straight semi-final appearance in Melbourne.
Have to say, I was cursing when I saw Brady in starting 11. Great to be wrong. Sweet night for him.
@Louis Jacob: 100 percent the same
Fearing the worst early on but the team showed great determination to complete the comeback and win it. Glad to see Brady get his flowers too. He may be a right age now but he’s technically superb and always has that deadly set-piece delivery on him. I’ve been crying out for Ebosele to get a start over Doherty for years and albeit just a cameo, it feels great to see a hungry, athletic player on that right. Sure its just Finland, the real test will come on Sunday, but between the singing fans in Helsinki and a gutsy performance you feel there’s that little bit of spark back in the side.
Watched it in Kos with the England game on another screen… double delight
Ireland can thank Scales for keeping that central defence together. Collins and O Shea well below standard required.
@Gary O Sullivan: O Shea defended excellently when they had clearly targeted him, what are you on about? Collins has that mistake in him, but he offers a lot too so I dont understand the derision these Irish players always get. Theyre not Maldini, but theyre far from brutal. They always turn up, always give the effort and they are the best we have. Support them
@Gary O Sullivan: O’Shea always caught for
pace. Collins had a nightmare I feel the Captains arm band is too heavy for him. Ferguson not any where near match sharpness needs more clock time.Otherwise a bit more bite and urgency in the team in general. Delighted Smallbone was not on the Pitch for me he brings nothing to the game. A positive outcome overall. A win is a win.
@Den: O’Shea literally had one of the top five fastest sprint times of any Premier league player last season…..
@Gary McGrath: clueless comment alright about his pace. He was poor in the first half
Brady and Scales stood up tonight. But Festy stole the show and changed the game
Mortimer?! WE’RE BACK!!!
Well holy God we won one
Every journey starts with a first step. I like this new manager. I think there is something to him. We will never be world beaters but might get more competitive under his stewardship. A green shoot for now which I will gladly take.
Well done Festy ..Up Wexford.
We were only pretending to be shyyte lads…Kaiser Souzai job!
a night to cherish? bit OTT. for one it is only Finland.
@Niall English: First win since 2013 from being one goal behind let us enjoy are wee win
Kenny brought Ebosele through?? He might have given him his debut but he underutilized him massively
Festy was very positive and created chances. Hopefully starts in Greece good win after a dreadful pass back by Collins we had so many players with loose passes so much more to work on. A good win hopefully we can back it up in Greece.
Hope this is a big catalyst for the team to believe in themselves more . We shouldn’t be going to Greece to try and scrape a draw now , we have better players than these guys and can beat them
Injoy it because it won’t last two long
@Alan Moloney: We will galway
@Alan Moloney: gobsh&te
Why, as a nation, are we so determined to disparage our own?
Like it or not, Stephen Kenny started this evolution – stop knocking him!
A similar thing happened with Chris Hughton at Brighton. He dragged that squad into a useful outfit before he was discarded – then his successor got all the kudos!
As long as we tell everybody we’re not good enough, that’s how we’ll be treated
A very good and much needed win. If we can dig out a performance in Greece this Icelandic fella might be worth sticking with. Very poor first half , no shape to the team . Much better after break . Halgrímsson needs to figure out his best 11 though . Brady played well second half but he s not the future but credit where it’s due. Now where s my inflatable hammer .
Stephen Kenny tried to build an Irish team but quality players are not there.Fans and TV pundits hounded Stephen out the door.You cannot buy players at international level like the English clubs.Ireland simple don’t have the players with flair of your Spains France Italy etc etc etc.
@Edward McArdle: 100%, Edward. The blame for that lies squarely with the FAI.
Years of failure to establish a coaching strategy for the grassroots means simply that top-level Scouts don’t see any players remotely close to being the polished (or easily polished) article, and so the necessary grooming is never applied