You dream of becoming a top player. Defending champion Novak Djokovic ruled the 50th instalment of his rivalry with Roger Federer 7-6(1) 6-4 6-3 to book an eighth Australian Open final on Thursday night. He scooped an astonishing backhand drop shot from outside the court over the net post to set the tone, clenching his fist towards his increasingly vocal fan base. He was impressive on return with a sizable amount of return points on second serve but may be disappointed with going just 2/16 on break point chances.

Just enter your email below for...Join the Stevegtennis.com tennis club for free. I felt my return was key, how many balls I could get back into place, and the second key was hitting my spots.”Federer has been lucky to escape from two very tricky situations in the tournament so far but his luck is bound to run out on this one. “This is my favorite court, I mean, the court where I had the most success in my career. Djokovic is rounding into form at the right time and should find this one fairly straight forward unless his opponent comes up with one of the matches of his career. Federer managed another great escape to book his place in the semi finals, saving seven match points in his 6-3 2-6 2-6 7-6 6-2 win over Tennys Sandgren. I practiced with him in Brisbane during ATP Cup.

“Patience,” stated the No.2 seed, reflecting on his journey from a Next Gen star to a 16-time major winner. Straightforward in straight sets against the 20-time Grand Slam champion, a relentless Djokovic is just one match away from mission accomplished once again in Melbourne. He wasn’t even close to his best in terms of movement, and respect for coming out and trying his best throughout. “Obviously with Roger, you have to expect a very high level of tennis and that he’s going to be very aggressive,” Djokovic said.

The Swiss catapulted his 25th winner of the set down the line off the backhand wing, but Djokovic stood firm and forced a tiebreak.

“Dominic won our last match we played against each other, a close one in London (ATP Finals). Hopefully things can come together for me in a positive way on Thursday and I can have a chance to win.” Djokovic said.Join the Stevegtennis.com tennis club for free. The world No.2, who hasn’t lost in Grand Slam action to Federer since Wimbledon 2012, improved his … I watched that.

Federer was still probing, accelerating through his shots, hoping to rebuild and pull off another miracle comeback. Suddenly Federer was 5-2 up following a 61-second hold, but the defending champion responded in typical fashion. Playing a clean collection of rallies, in lockdown without surrendering any cheap points, Djokovic was soon in command, one set up. He was obviously hurt. “I tried to stay with him in the rally, move him around and not make too many unforced errors.” Federer was eagerly searching for ways to dent the Djokovic armour in the second set, sneaking in for a few chip and charges on second return, but the Serbian was reacting to the versatility with ruthless efficiency. “He’s going to come more to the net, mix it up, play short slice, place me under constant pressure, play some serve and volley. Djokovic was prolonging the rallies and his depth on shot was causing havoc over the other side of the net. The Swiss was under pressure from the very first ball, but an ace and clever use of the inside-out forehand chalked up a morale-boosting opening hold. I was rushing a little bit too much, getting frustrated by small details in life.

I watched his matches. “The first couple of sets went exactly how I wanted them to go, with one break in each set.
”You’ve got to get lucky sometimes,” A relieved Federer said afterwards. Federer’s lead was swiftly erased for five apiece. The world No.2, who hasn’t lost in Grand Slam action to Federer since Wimbledon 2012, improved his record to 27-23 facing the Swiss. Obviously I’m not as natural as he is in those varieties in the game. After that I relaxed a bit mentally and could swing through the ball a bit more’ Deserves to be where he is,” analysed Djokovic, looking ahead to his potential final opponent.“Alex didn't start the year very well. “They definitely have the potential to be there, but I think one thing I lacked when I was younger was patience and not trusting the process more. “When you’re young, you want everything right away and there is no waiting. The Wimbledon final will be weighing heavy on the mind of Federer, who will be ruing his inability to close out in one of the last realistic chances he will have to win at a slam against one of his biggest rivals.

Defending champion Novak Djokovic ruled the 50th instalment of his rivalry with Roger Federer 7-6(1) 6-4 6-3 to book an eighth Australian Open final on Thursday night. That’s how you learn.” Over to Thiem and Zverev to portray their patience. ©2020 STEVEGTENNIS.COM - All 3rd party trademarks are hereby acknowledged. Dominic Thiem and Alex Zverev are some of the best young players that play this game and definitely have high goals and ambitions. It is now six straight five setters he has won but it was a performance way below par for most of the match. “It wasn’t the right mindset from my side. Experienced tennis writer with a focus on event previews and results. Roger Federer vs. Novak Djokovic - Match Highlights (SF) | Australian Open 2020‘I managed to dig my way back and it was very important to win that first set. “I felt great on the court and I was very focused,” Djokovic said. “Respect to Roger for coming out tonight. I was looking more at how he was moving, what he was doing, rather than executing my shots in the right way. I felt comfortable in serving. January 29, 2020 Aaron Higgs Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Tennis News 2015, Tennis Previews & Predictions No comments.