Serena crushes Agnieszka to march into Australian Open finals
Melbourne: Top seed Novak Djokovic saw off a thrilling fight-back by his great rival Roger Federer to reach his sixth Australian Open final and fifth consecutive Grand Slam title match on Thursday.
The Serbian world number one downed third seed Federer 6-1 6-2 3-6 6-3 in two hours, 19 minutes and will face either Andy Murray or Milos Raonic in Sunday’s final.
It was the 45th meeting between the two greats with Djokovic now edging ahead of Federer 23-22 in their head-to-head duels.
The amazing Serb continued his recent domination over the 17-time Grand Slam champion and on Sunday, he will become the first man in the history of Open era to contest six Australian Open finals.
“I played an unbelievable first two sets but that is what is necessary against Roger as he has been playing at a very high level in this tournament,” Djokovic said.
“I knew he was going to be aggressive and mix up the pace and try to come to the net, but I came out with the right intensity with great concentration and I executed everything perfect. But it was a battle in the end.”
It will also be Djokovic’s 19th Grand Slam final overall and he moves into equal-third place with Ivan Lendl on the all-time list of most appearances in major finals, which is headed by Federer.
The 10-time Grand Slam champion was in sensational form in the opening two sets, carving up Federer in their 15th Grand Slam encounter with his fabulous groundstrokes for the loss of only three games in just 54 breathless minutes.
He broke Federer’s first service to 15 and then held his serve to lead 3-0, winning 12 of the first 14 points.
The Swiss third seed was broken again in the sixth game, netting a forehand with Djokovic in full cry.
Djokovic’s 6-1 first set was his easiest opening-set win over Federer. He won 24 points to 11, with the rushed Swiss making 12 unforced errors.
Federer was broken to love in the third game in a similar start to the second set, with the world number one able to do no wrong. He broke again in the fifth game and made it two sets to love with less than an hour gone.
Four-time winner Federer probed for a way back in, with the Australian crowd urging him on, and he broke Djokovic for the first time in the sixth game of the third set.
The Swiss was finally putting pressure on Djokovic and he claimed the third set on his third set point, to a thunderous roar on Rod Laver Arena.
But both players had to cool their heels as play was delayed to enable the stadium roof to be closed ahead of expected rain, making for indoor playing conditions.
Djokovic broke Federer for a fifth time in the match in a sensational eighth game of the fourth set, featuring a forehand return winner for the break, and he safely served out for the match in the following game.
Meanwhile, World number one Serena Williams demolished Polish fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska on Thursday to surge into her 26th Grand Slam final and zero in on a seventh Australian Open title.
The dominant top seed was untouchable in overpowering the Pole 6-0, 6-4 in just 64 minutes on Rod Laver Arena to set up a decider against German seventh seed Angelique Kerber or unseeded Briton Johanna Konta.
Kerber and Konta play later Thursday, with whoever wins facing a huge obstacle to be crowned champion. Of her 25 previous major finals, Williams has won 21.
“I feel I am playing the best I can, and I can’t believe I am in the final.
“I started playing aggressive again in the second set and it worked out.”
The writing was on the wall for Radwanska — Williams had never lost a semi-final at Melbourne Park on her way to six titles, and had beaten the Pole in each of their previous eight meetings stretching back to 2008.
She crushed long-time rival Maria Sharapova in the quarter-finals and dished out the same treatment to Radwanska, halting her 13-match win streak in emphatic fashion.
The victory puts her just one win away from matching Steffi Graf’s Open-era Grand Slam record of 22 titles, with Margaret Court’s all-time mark of 24 edging closer.
In her 16th Australian Open, Williams, who said this week she had no plans to retire any time soon, got on the front foot immediately, and effortlessly.
Within a minute of the match starting she had a break point as she hit clean winners and attacked the net.
It was the worst possible opening for Radwanska, with Williams, the oldest world number one in WTA history, breaking and then using her huge power advantage to easily hold serve, racing 2-0 clear with a smash at the net. (AFP)