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MELBOURNE - Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have set up an Australian Open showstopper with emphatic straight-sets victories at Melbourne Park on Wednesday.
Federer reached a record 15th straight grand slam semifinal with an at-times breathtaking 7-5 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 win over his American bunny James Blake after
Djokovic - widely considered the Swiss master's heir apparent - outclassed Spanish fifth seed David Ferrer 6-0 6-3 7-5 in his quarterfinal.
While Federer has now trumped Blake in all eight of their career meetings, Djokovic was among an elite group of only six players to have conquered the world No 1 in 2007 and shapes as a different proposition altogether for the top seed and two-time defending champion.
At 20, Djokovic is rapidly emerging as tennis' next superstar after continuing his own incredible run at the slams with his brutal defeat of Ferrer, the world No 5 and 2007 Masters Cup runner-up.
The Serbian powerhouse has now reached the last four in four straight majors, having fallen at the penultimate stage to Rafael Nadal at the French Open and Wimbledon last year before losing to Federer in the title match at the US Open.
"It's an amazing feeling," he said.
"They were saying the year after breakthrough year is the most difficult one. But I'm feeling really, really good at the moment - physically and mentally.
"And as you can see on the court, I'm showing all my strength. I'm playing with a lot of confidence.
"I have more experience now. I play with more patience and that was one of the goals and this is just the start.
"Hopefully I can go all the way."
Federer, whose latest dispatch of Blake guaranteed he will remain as world No.1 ahead of Nadal for at least a 208th consecutive week, lauded Djokovic for achieving his rare semifinal set so early in his career.
"He's done phenomenal job," Federer said.
"What is it - four semifinals of grand slams at his age? I never did that at that age.
"He's improved so much the last couple of years. I was never close to doing that at his age.
"I'm obviously excited about playing against the best in the world and he's right behind me, so it's going to be fun to watch."
Djokovic has not dropped a set all tournament and his only blip today was to snap at the crowd at Rod Laver Arena after failing to close out his quarterfinal when serving for it at 5-4 in the third set.
After squandering four match points, Djokovic angrily demanded the crowd shut up so he could serve.
But he was quick to apologise.
"I behaved badly," the third seed conceded.
"It's a professional sport and sometimes it's hard to control your emotions.
"You have to deal with that and with pressure and with all the fans and everything around the court, and (behave) outside of the court in a most professional way.
"Today I did something that could cause a third-set loss and then who knows in what direction would match go. But this is something I'll work on, just to try to focus on court."
Djokovic admitted he was still learning to cope with the added responsibility of being the No.3 in the world.
"Sometimes it's difficult to stay calm on the court," he said.
"But I'm working on that. I'm still young and I still need to improve some elements in the game as well as the mental stabilisation.
"I shouldn't get distracted by the crowd because I had enough of that big matches on the courts, big courts, big events, Davis Cup."
The winner of Friday's night's semifinal will meet the winner of today's semi between Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and world No 2 Rafael Nadal in the final.
- AAP