Defending champion Novak Djokovic withstood 18 aces from Milos Raonic to set up a semi-final showdown with Roger Federer at the Australian Open.
Besides an issue with his contact lenses the 16-time grand slam champion was in solid form throughout his 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(1), win over the world No.35. Who was contesting a grand slam quarter-final match for the first time since Wimbledon 2018. Despite Raonic’s renowned thunderous serve, Djokovic’s defensive abilities enabled him to thwart the threat posed in convincing manner. In total, the world No.2 fire 29 winners to 14 unforced errors. Although it wasn’t entirely straight forward with the him only being able to convert two out of 16 break point opportunities.
“I felt great on the court. I was very focused. The first couple of sets went the way I wanted them to go. One break was good enough. I was comfortable serving, which is very encouraging.” Djokovic evaluated of his latest performance.
“Playing against Milos I knew that two key elements in the game would be the return and how efficiently I hit my spots with my serve.’
“I was fortunate to get out of trouble in the third (set) and played a perfect tiebreak. It was a great performance.” He added.
Heading into the match Djokovic said there was one thing which separates Raonic from fellow fast servers John Isner and Ivo Karlovic. That was that he found it easier to read the serve of the Canadian. This was evident during the opening set with the Serbian having numerous chances to break his rival, who had only faced seven break points in his four previous matches in Melbourne.
In Djokovic’s case eight break points came and went for him before he secured a breakthrough at the best possible time. Leading 5-4, back-to-back forehand errors from Raonic enabled the second seed to break for the first time and subsequently take the 6-4 lead after 54 minutes of action.
Gaining in momentum, the former world No.1 struck again four games into the second frame. This time it was a winning forehand pass from Djokovic that granted him yet another break for a set and 3-1 lead. Raonic continued to battle hard, but he was unable to find a way to break down the solid game of his rival. A 190km/h serve out wide forced the Canadian to return the ball into the net and grant Djokovic the two-set lead.
Closing in on the victory, he continued to face resistance from Raonic. Who mixed up his tactics to pose more of a threat. However, proceedings were then halted at 4-4 in the third set after Djokovic encountered an issue with his contact lenses. Unexpectedly triggering a medical time-out.
“I was to apologise to Milos because it was definitely not something you see very often.” Said Djokovic. “It was not intentional or tactical. It was just something I had to do because during those games I couldn’t see much. And I had to change my lenses. “
Returning to the court, Djokovic continued to weather the storm in what turned out to be a one-sided end to the match. A faltering Raonic resulted in him valiantly winning 11 out of the last 12 points played. Storming through the third set tiebreaker, he clinched victory after a backhand shot from his rival crashed into the net.
Djokovic’s win means that he will take on Federer next. The Swiss star suffered an injury scare during his marathon five-set encounter with Tennys Sandgren, which lasted just over three-and-a-half hours. Something he later described as ‘pain and problems’ but not an injury in his press conference. Despite questions over Federer’s current form, Djokovic is taking nothing for granted.
“I have tremendous respect for Roger and everything he achieved in this sport. He’s one of the all-time greats and has been one of my two biggest rivals.” He said.
“I’ve been saying this many times, but I will say this again: The match-ups against Roger and Rafa (Nadal) has made me the player I am today. I am very grateful for many great matches against those guys.”
Djokovic leads Federer 26-23 in their head-to-head and has won all four of their grand slam meetings since 2015. It will also be the fifth time the two have locked horns in the semi-finals of the Australian Open. Out of those encounters, Djokovic has won four of them.
-2016 Australian Open SF: Djokovic won 61 62 36 63
-2011 Australian Open SF: Djokovic won 763 75 64
-2008 Australian Open SF: Djokovic won 75 63 765
-2007 Australian Open SF: Federer won 62 75 63
