One day after unseeded Jo-Wilfred Tsonga beat #2 Rafael Nadal in the other Australian Open semifinal, Rod Laver Arena saw another giant-killing as Novak Djokovic took out the undisputed #1 Roger Federer, he of the infinite match streak at non-clay majors and chasing down Pete Sampras’ record of majors wins:
Novak Djokovic reached his first grand-slam final with a stunning upset of Roger Federer, the top seed and reigning champion, at the Australian Open.
The Serbian triumphed 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 and will play Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, the 22-year-old Frenchman in Sunday’s final. Tsonga put out Andy Murray, the British hope, in the opening round.
Defeat ended Federer’s hopes of winning the Melbourne tournament for the third consecutive year and, similarly, he will have to wait to move within one of Pete Sampras’s record of 14 grand-slam titles.
There were several times when it looked like Federer would mount a charge and come back but each time he was answered. Djokovic’s first serve was nearly nonreturnable while he often turned back Roger’s serve. Had the match gone into the 4th set perhaps Roger’s fitness would have been an issue but on this night he didn’t have enough. Epic match.
Serbia might bag this Aussie Open with Ana Ivanovic and Djokovic both in the mens and womens finals, respectively.
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[...] defeated world #1 Roger Federer 6-7 6-3 6-4 in the first round in Dubai. Federer fresh off his loss in the Australian open to Novak Djokovic and near loss to Tipsarevic sure has some doubts to answer now. Perhaps he’s hurt. Perhaps [...]
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