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No. 2 seed Novak Djokovic defeated No. 3 Roger Federer in straight sets in Melbourne on Thursday to reach the Australian Open final for the eighth time.

Trailing 2-5 in the opening set, the Serbian steamrolled the Swiss six-time former champion 7-6 (1), 6-4, 6-3 in two hours and 18 minutes. Federer was hampered by a groin injury.

“He got off to a good start and I was pretty nervous at the beginning,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview after the match.

“I have to say I respect Roger for coming out tonight. He was obviously hurt and not close to his best in terms of movement. It wasn’t the right mindset at the beginning, because I was watching him and how he was moving early on, rather than executing my own shots. I managed to dig my way back and win the first set, which was obviously mentally important.”

🙏 https://t.co/vLspimL6fL

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 30, 2020

Djokovic won 11 of 12 points at the net and finished with 11 aces, 31 winners and 18 unforced errors. Federer tallied 15 aces, 46 winners and 35 unforced errors. He broke Djokovic’s serve twice to open the match, but couldn’t break the defending champion again.



“I was playing with nothing to lose obviously,” said Federer, 38, who left the court for medical treatment after the first set.

“I was just trying to take big cuts at the ball, trying to keep the rallies to a minimal, make sure I keep him off guard, mix it up as much as I can. I think I returned really well in the beginning. Got some really good connections going. Unfortunately, I was not able to serve it out. To be honest, I feel like I should have found a way to do that, but wasn’t able to.”

“I’m confident. I’m happy how I’m feeling, to be honest. No plans to retire.

“From that standpoint, we’ll see how the year goes, how everything is with the family. Of course, I hope to be back.” – @rogerfederer

Match highlights 👉 https://t.co/XnmMl8Gl71#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/s4DmZJ4eGh

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 30, 2020

Djokovic is one win away from his record-extending eighth Australian Open title. He can also regain the No. 1 world ranking with a victory in Sunday’s final against either No. 5 seed Dominic Thiem of Austria or No. 7 Alexander Zverev of Germany.

The 32-year-old Djokovic, who is off to a 12-0 start in 2020, is 6-4 head-to-head against Thiem and 3-2 against Zverev.

“I’m pleased with the way I’ve been feeling and playing,” Djokovic said. “… I dropped only one set so far up to the final. I have two days of no match right now, which actually is really good. It gives me more time to recuperate and gather all the necessary energy for the final.”

"It's good for our sport, we need more champions."@DjokerNole on the prospect of facing Thiem or Zverev in his 8th #AusOpen final.#AO2020 pic.twitter.com/f97Ja7ssUg

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 30, 2020

–Field Level Media (@FieldLevelMedia)