Djokovic tops Federer again to advance to 6th Aussie Open final

Novak Djokovic opened his semifinal match Thursday with two of the finest sets of his (or anyone's) life, then weathered a spirited comeback from Roger Federer to advance to his sixth career Australian Open final with a 6-1, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win.

Those first two sets were blinding, and they were over before you could blink. Djokovic connected cleanly on everything, read Federer's serve with an intuition that bordered on omniscience, sent back scathing returns that scraped the baseline, redirected heavy forehands with even heavier backhands, and passed Federer on nearly every approach. He even bombed a few aces up the T, because why not. It was an onslaught with no let-up.

Federer had been broken just five times in the tournament coming in. Djokovic broke him in four of his first six service games. Federer tried to amp up his aggression, but that only seemed to make things worse. Five games in, his game plan had been blown to bits.

In their 44 previous meetings, Djokovic had taken just one 6-1 set off Federer. Twenty-two minutes into this one, he had a second. By the time 53 minutes had elapsed, he was a set from the finals. Federer looked completely out of answers, out of ideas, out of hope, out of his league. Bernie Tomic was right: Federer was nowhere near Djokovic's tennis.

Still, he's a 17-time Slam champ for a reason, and he wasn't about to roll over. Buoyed by a tremendously vocal crowd that did everything it could to stir something in him, Federer found another gear in the third. Djokovic's level dipped, to be sure, but mostly Federer elevated his. He started to use his backhand slice to throw Djokovic off rhythm, approached more swiftly and purposefully, made some daring serve-and-volleys on second serves, and willed himself back into the match.

When he finally broke Djokovic for the first time - after an 11-minute, five-deuce game that featured some magnificent shot-making - the fans gave him a standing ovation. After one break. In a way, it was as much a tribute to Djokovic as it was to Federer. That's what breaking Djokovic was worth. That's what it had come to.

After Federer served out the set and whipped the crowd into a crazed froth, the need for a roof closure forced a 10-minute delay, killing a bit of the buzz. The two then came out for the fourth set and traded routine holds, with nary a break point changing hands, until the frenzied eighth game.

After Federer won the point of the tournament to level the game at 30-all, Djokovic caught a bit of luck when he struck a net cord, which sent the ball that was about to be volleyed floating past Federer's racket. It dropped in for a winner. Djokovic obliterated a second-serve return to break on the next point, then held at love to seal the match.

It's the fourth straight Grand Slam match Federer has lost to Djokovic, who is still yet to lose a semifinal to anyone in Melbourne and who now owns a winning record (23-22) over Federer for the first time in his career. It's also the 17th consecutive tournament final Djokovic has reached, tying him with Federer (who did it in 2006) for second all time, one behind Ivan Lendl.

He now awaits the outcome of Friday's semifinal between Andy Murray and Milos Raonic, the winner of which will be the last remaining roadblock to Djokovic's 11th major title.