MELBOURNE, Australia — Novak Djokovic ended Stan Wawrinka’s reign as he eliminated the defending champion 7-6 (7-1), 3-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 on Friday to advance to Australian Open final.
Djokovic, bidding for a fifth trophy at Melbourne Park, defeated the fourth-seeded Wawrinka for the second time as the pair met for the third year in a row at the event. The struggle took three and a half hours.
But the contest was far from the high-voltage, five-set thrillers staged by the pair at the past two Aussie Opens, with both men playing with errors and sometimes short on passion. The up-and-down nature of the battle produced 12 breaks of serve and nearly 120 combined unforced errors in the momentum-shifting affair.
Top seed and world No. 1 Djokovic plays for the title Sunday against Andy Murray, who has rejoined the top four in the ATP rankings. Djokovic has beaten Murray in their previous two meetings.
The victory lifts Djokovic to a 17-3 record over Wawrinka, who beat Rafael Nadal for the title a year ago.
Djokovic finally got a solid grip on his game in the fourth set and ran out the victory with a love fifth set, advancing to the final as Wawrinka put a forehand return wide.
Djokovic lost his first set of the tournament when Wawrinka levelled at one set each after failing to profit from a break in the first set and going down in the opening-set tiebreaker.
But Wawrinka showed good form to level, only to see his game drop again in the third, with Djokovic getting on back on top 3-1 and claiming a two-sets-to-one lead five games later with a concluding break.
Djokovic looked to be back in control as the fourth set began, breaking Wawrinka only to lose the lead when he lost his own serve a game later, sending a forehand long over the baseline.
“Like the last two years, we had a battle,” Djokovic said. “We pushed each other to the limit.
“I was playing well up two sets to one with a break when I had a few loose games in the fourth set. That allowed Stan to come back into the match. He’s a quality player and he used his opportunities.
“He made my life very complicated. The opening game of the fifth set was close, but making a double break in the last set was a crucial turning point. Playing the holder in front of a full crowd, there are a lot of emotions. I’m just glad to go through.”
Djokovic, winner of seven majors, improved his grand slam record to 186-33 and now stands 49-6 in Melbourne.
Djokovic will be playing in his 15th grand slam final when he takes on Murray, who beat Tomas Berdych on Thursday to book his place in the title match.
The 27-year-old Djokovic has now won his last nine matches against top 10 opponents, last losing to Roger Federer five years ago.
Djokovic is looking to become the second man in history to win five or more Australian Open titles. Roy Emerson is the only man who has won more than five in Melbourne.
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