Melbourne: Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer are 22-all in career head-to-heads, have nine Australian Open titles between them, and warmed up for a semifinal meeting with clinical quarterfinal wins.
Six-time champion Serena Williams advanced to the semifinals yet again, extending her dominance in a 12-year rivalry with an 18th straight win over Maria Sharapova.
The three most decorated players in Melbourne in the Open era all won in straight sets on Tuesday, with Serena starting the roll with a 6-4, 6-1 win in a rematch of last year’s final. Up next for her is fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, who beat No.10 Carla Suarez Navarro 6-1, 6-3 to reach her fifth Grand Slam semifinal.
Serena has won every semifinal she’s contested at the Australian Open, and gone on to win the title each time.
Djokovic’s mark is almost as good — he’s 5-0 in semifinals, and in finals, in the season’s first major. He advanced 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 over No.7 Kei Nishikori in the night match on Rod Laver.
Four-time champion Federer capped the afternoon session with a 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-4 win over No.6 Tomas Berdych, reaching his 12th Australian Open semifinal and his 39th in a Grand Slam. He hasn’t gone past the semifinals here since winning the title in 2010.
Serena’s win over Sharapova was the marquee match of the day, improving her record to 19-2 in a rivalry that goes back to 2004.
“It was super intense,” Serena said. “She’s an incredibly intense, focused player who was No.1 and has won so many Grand Slams for a reason. You have to come out with a lot of fire and intensity.”
She did just that, attacking the serve of Sharapova, the 2008 champion and four-time finalist in Australia.
Sharapova had a career-high 21 aces In her previous win against No.12 Belinda Bencic. Against Serena, she had three, and seven double-faults. Serena had 13 aces, hit 31 winners to 11, and broke Sharapova’s serve four times.
“She played quite explosive,” Sharapova said. “She was really explosive off the return.”
Sharapova broke to open the match but Serena held in the third game and broke back to level at 2-2.
From there, Serena protected her own serve — even as a baby wailed in the stands in the ninth game as she faced breakpoints — and took high-risk options with her service returns to unsettle Sharapova.
After winning an intense first set, Serena had medical treatment —later saying it was just for an upset stomach.
She then embarked on a five-game roll in the second to put the result any beyond.
