It's a dream come true for a tennis fan. Two contemporary legends of the game—Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic—will line up against each other in the semifinal of the Australian Open.
The two players had contrasting quarterfinal matches—Federer scripted a great escape against unseeded American Tennys Sandgren, saving seven match points, while Djokovic powered past Milos Raonic.
The Serbian world number two and defending champion, despite trouble with his contact lenses, tamed the big-serving Canadian 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7/1) as he targets an eighth Melbourne Park crown and 17th Grand Slam title.
Six-time champion Federer is next, after one of his most memorable comebacks against unseeded American Tennys Sandgren.
The 38-year-old great, the oldest man to reach the Melbourne semis since Ken Rosewall 43 years ago, came through an action-packed clash 6-3, 2-6, 2-6, 7-6 (10/8), 6-3.
He fended off seven match points and was slapped with a warning for swearing, while taking a rare medical timeout for a groin injury that hampered his movement.
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But he dug deep to set up yet another showdown with his old rival Djokovic. The pair are all-conquering in Melbourne, sharing 12 of the last 14 titles between them.
They have played each other 49 times, with the Serb in front 26-23.
While Federer—into a record 15th Australian Open semi—has laboured through 14 sets in his last three matches, Djokovic has had a much easier ride, dropping just one set all tournament.
The fit-again Raonic reached the Melbourne semifinals in 2016, when he lost to Andy Murray, and the quarters on three other occasions, including last year.
He had failed to beat Djokovic in nine previous attempts, but possesses a monster serve and was unbeaten in 59 straight service games heading into their clash.
That all changed when he faced his nemesis, perhaps the best returner in tennis.
He threatened straight away, earning break points on the Raonic serve several times before finally converting to take the set and snap the Canadian's run.
After the 63-game streak on his serve, his next amounted to just one game, broken again in the fourth game of the second set as Djokovic took a stranglehold.
The relentless Serb, who has won 11 straight matches this season, went toe-to-toe with the Canadian in the third set when at 4-4 he called for new contact lenses, which turned into a medical timeout.
Raonic wasn't impressed that he didn't wait until the changeover.
Djokovic appeared to struggle with his vision on his return, but it quickly came back into focus as he raced through the tiebreaker to book his ticket to the semifinal.
(With PTI inputs)
