Superfit Djokovic up for repeat of five-hour battle in Australia
TENNIS world No1 Novak Djokovic declared himself ready for another five-hour epic after brushing off fatigue to reach the Australian Open semi-finals.
Djokovic endured a gruelling test against Stan Wawrinka in round four but showed no ill effects 48 hours later as he overcame fifth seed Tomas Berdych 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.
“I felt good enough to go another five hours,” he said, after securing a meeting with Spain’s David Ferrer.
The Serb may need to against notoriously dogged fourth seed Ferrer, who beat Nicolas Almagro 4-6, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 despite his compatriot serving for the match on three occasions.
Women’s second seed Maria Sharapova continued her ominous progress with a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 victory over fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova.
Sharapova will face Li Na in the semi-finals, after the Chinese sixth seed eliminated fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska 7-5, 6-3.