Novak Djokovic hammered an off-key Kei Nishikori and Roger Federer put on a masterclass against Tomas Berdych as they set up a dream semi-final at the Australian Open yesterday.
Defending champion Djokovic recovered strongly from his five-set struggle against Gilles Simon as he ousted Nishikori 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, after Federer swept aside Berdych 7-6 (7/4), 6-2, 6-4.
Djokovic is seeking his 11th Grand Slam title while Federer, 34, is looking to extend his record tally to 18 -- and both will want to take charge of their head-to-head, which is locked at 22-22. “Any round (against Federer) feels like a final because of the fact that we are, you know, big rivals, we played so many times against each other,” Djokovic said.  
“There’s a lot of tension. There’s a lot at stake. I’m expecting a great fight in two days.
Both players will have a close eye on Wednesday’s quarter-finals pitting Andy Murray against David Ferrer and Milos Raonic against Gael Monfils.
Djokovic will start as favourite against Federer after he beat him in the Wimbledon and US Open finals last year on his way to winning three Grand Slam titles and finishing runner-up at the French Open. The Serb made 100 unforced errors and was pushed all the way in Sunday’s five-set struggle with Simon, but he said a day away from tennis had done him the world of good.
“I didn’t practice yesterday. I didn’t hit a tennis ball,” he said. “It happens sometimes, it’s actually good to rest your mind, rest your body. Less is more sometimes.”

‘It means a lot’
Tomorrow’s semi-final promises to be a test of Djokovic’s continued dominance of men’s tennis, after his achievement in losing only one Grand Slam match last season.
In a sign of the pair’s hold on men’s tennis, Federer is into his 39th Grand Slam semi-final while Djokovic has 29. They were both on court for little over two hours yesterday.
Djokovic only hit 11 groundstroke winners in disposing of Nishikori, who made a total of 54 unforced errors and had his service broken six times.
“I think today was more (about) my game. I was missing too much, especially first couple sets. Lost many easy games,” said Nishikori, who was also troubled by a leg injury.
“I couldn’t make him work hard today. I mean, yes, he played good. But I couldn’t play good tennis today.”
Earlier Federer reached his 12th Australian Open semi-final in 13 years with a clinical straight-sets win over Berdych in two hours, 16 minutes. The Swiss has high hopes he can add a fifth Australian Open title, even though his last Grand Slam success was back at Wimbledon in 2012. “It means a lot. It’s part of the reason why I’m still playing,” Federer said. “I feel like I’m competitive at the top. I can beat all the guys on tour. “It’s nice now that in the last three Slams that I’ve been as consistent as I have been.”
Federer said he was enjoying his tennis after adding former world number three Ivan Ljubicic to his coaching team, along with long-time mentor Severin Luthi. “I’m playing good tennis, fun tennis for me anyway. I really enjoy being able to come to the net more like back in the day.
“So I’m very pleased. It would mean a lot to me (to win more Slams), no doubt about it.”
The world number three had few concerns against the strong-serving Berdych and extended his career record to 16-6 to deny the Czech a third straight semi-final appearance in Melbourne.

My bad! Federer sorry for Tomic rankings gaffe
Roger Federer apologised yesterday after he sparked a row with Bernard Tomic by upbraiding the Australian about his work-rate—without checking his ranking first. Federer told Tomic he had to work harder if he wanted to reach the top 10, prompting Tomic to point out that the Swiss great was also some way away from the level of top-ranked Novak Djokovic. But Federer admitted yesterday that he made the comments thinking Tomic was still ranked at about 50th in the world. When he checked the rankings, he realised he had risen to 17.
“I didn’t know his ranking was as high as it was, to be quite honest. I thought he was like 50 or 60 and he was top 20,” Federer said.  “That was my bad, to be honest. But I don’t check the rankings every day. I came from the off-season. I had no clue what was going on anymore.”
“But I still believe it’s a big difference top 10 for a week or for a year or for multiple years, and getting there is not easy. “It’s a lot of dedication, a lot of hard work. There’s a lot of guys who have the potential right now, not just him. That’s why I think it got brought up in many ways.” Federer also warned wayward Australian Nick Kyrgios that the next two years are vital to realising his huge potential on the tennis circuit after a rocky patch in young career. The controversial 20-year-old has polarised opinion over his behaviour on and off the court, and he bowed out acrimoniously in the Australian Open third round against Tomas Berdych. “I think he’s a great player. I think he’s enjoyable to watch. I know some people might not like it. I like it. He’s got a lot of personality,” the Swiss great said. But Federer warned: “The advice I would give him, just that he’s aware of the fact how important the next couple of years are. Otherwise the train leaves the station and you’re maybe not on it. “It would be a pity to waste talent and all that even more so in this day and age because I feel talent brought you further back in the day. “Just talking about a guy who has talent and potential, I can’t hear it anymore. Too many guys have talent. Too many guys are working hard. I don’t believe in that very much any more.”