Novak Djokovic was untouchable, racing to a two-set lead, taking 12 of the first 15 games of the match, doing so in a speedy 54 minutes and with a ridiculously small six unforced errors.
It was as if the Serbian world No. 1 was the only player on the court.
Then Roger Federer – the Swiss champion on the other side of the net – remembered that he was Roger Federer.
Just before Federer was about to endure a rare humiliation, he sprung to life to spice up in the Australian Open men’s singles semi final at Rod Laver Arena on Thursday night.
Federer had the crowd roaring like the sound of a jet plane taking off at Tullamarine as he got back into the contest in a third set where he displayed some of the more remarkable tennis shots you are ever likely to see.
You never write off a champion and Federer showed his fighting qualities, but, if you turn up to work an hour late, the boss is not going to be happy.
Djokovic is the boss of men’s tennis these days and showed why he is closing in on a remarkable sixth Australian Open title during some invincible patches in the 6-1 6-2 3-6 6-3 win.
Do not let the Federer comeback erase from the memory the total control Djokovic had over one of the greats of world tennis.
It showed just how far Djokovic is in front of the rest of the tennis world these days.
Djokovic rated his own first two sets as the best tennis he has played against Federer in 45 meetings.
“I think against Roger, these first two sets have been probably the best two sets I’ve played against him overall I think throughout my career,” he said.
“I’ve had some moments against him in sets where I’ve played on a high level, but this was, yeah, I think a different level than from before. I’m just very, very pleased that I was able to perform the way I did from the very beginning till the end.”
Federer compared Djokovic’s return of serve to that of Andre Agassi.
Djokovic broke Federer’s serve five times in the match, including twice in each of the first two sets.
But as great as Djokovic executed in all facets – from his returning to his serving and power game at the baseline – Federer made it easy on him by producing elementary errors you would not normally associate with his play.
“I had ideas what I should do,” Federer said. “I couldn’t quite get it done.”
Djokovic will face the winner of Friday’s semi final between Great Britain’s Andy Murray and Canada’s Milos Raonic.
2016 Australian Open
WOMEN’S SINGLES
Quarter finals
Serena Williams d Maria Sharapova 6-1 6-3
Agnieszka Radwanska d Carla Suarez Navarro 6-1 6-3
Angelique Kerber d Victoria Azarenka 6-3 7-5
Johanna Konta d Shuai Zhang 6-4 6-1
Semi finals
Serena Williams d Agnieszka Radwanska 6-0 6-4
Angelique Kerber d Johanna Konta 7-5 6-2
Final
Serena Williams v Angelique Kerber
MEN’S SINGLES
Quarter finals
Novak Djokovic d Kei Nishikori 6-3 6-2 6-4
Roger Federer d Tomas Berdych 7-6 6-2 6-4
Milos Raonic d Gael Monfils 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-4
Andy Murray d David Ferrer 6-3 6-7 6-2 6-3
Semi finals
Novak Djokovic d Roger Federer 6-1 6-2 3-6 6-3
Andy Murray v Milos Raonic – Friday,
