Focused ... Novak Djokovic was too good for Tomas Berdych. Source: AAP
He was coming off a five hour marathon but Novak Djokovic left no one in any doubt he had his mojo back as he brushed aside the claims of Tomas Berdych to progress to another Australian Open semi-final.
Australian Open: Mens Singles
Round QF, 22/01/13
| Djo (1) | 6 | 4 | 6 | 6 |
| Ber (5) | 1 | 6 | 1 | 4 |
Djokovic was challenged as Berdych red-lined his game to steal the second set and level the match but the world No.1 weathered the storm to breeze home 6-1 4-6 6-1 6-4.
He now meets David Ferrer after the Spaniard survived a nerve-wracking, rollercoaster five-setter to beat countryman Nicolas Almagro 4-6 4-6 7-5 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 earlier on Tuesday.
"David is one of the most respected guys on tour because he never gives up," Djokovic said.
"He's one of the fittest guys on tour so I'm expecting a long one."
Despite a string of his trademark forehand winners dotting a highlight-filled second set, Berdych never quite managed to fully sink his teeth in the quarter final clash as he relinquished his opening serve of the third set and never recovered.
Djokovic's epic fourth round match with Stanislas Wawrinka brought about question marks over the two-time defending champion's ability to hit the ground running against another heavy hitter.
But the No.1 seed wasn't in the mood to be drawn into another long match and he quickly found his rhythm in the opening set, getting hold of Berdych's serve and bolting to the lead before sealing it 6-1.
Speaking after the match, Djokovic said he was pleased with his powers of recuperation following the Wawrinka match.
"It was a great performance (against Berdych). I was just hoping not to go over five hours like the other night," Djokovic said.
"It takes a lot of time after a match like that to recover physically, emotionally, mentally."
While Djokovic was playing like his old self again, Berdych was flat and made too many errors to impose his powerful groundstrokes on the intimidating Serb.
That was to turn around out of nowhere in the second set as Berdych shot out of the blocks with some breathtaking winners to break Djokovic in the first game.
It must have felt like a long haul with five service holds to level up the match but the big Czech was able to maintain an exceptionally high level until he served for it at 5-4.
With two tight points to open the game, Berdych looked to have fluffed his lines as he stared down the barrel of a Djokovic break back at 0-30 down.
With some big serving and some brave forehands, Berdych saved a couple of break points before finally taking his chance to serve out the set.
As the winners flowed from the Berdych racquet, expectation grew that another epic was afoot but the crowd was to be stunned by another monumental momentum shift as Berdych dropped his opening service game in the third and suddenly the set was over - again 6-1 to Djokovic.
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