Reigning champion Novak Djokovic overcame some dip in form to beat Alexander Zverev 6-7 (6-8), 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) and book his place in the Australian Open semi-finals on Tuesday.
The Serbian world No.1 hit back strongly after losing a tight opening set on a tie-break. He trailed in both the third and fourth sets before turning them around. Germany’s Zverev will rue allowing Djokovic back from 1-4 down in the third set and he was also up 3-0 in the fourth.
Djokovic again wore tape on his abdominal area, a legacy of the injury picked up in his third-round win over Taylor Fritz. But it did not appear to bother him as he reached his 39th Grand Slam semi-final, where he will face an unlikely opponent in Russian qualifier Aslan Karatsev.
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