Australian Open: Djokovic knocked out Rublev, made it to the semifinals and sang happy birthday to his mother

The Serbian Star Novak Djokovic He qualified for his 10th Australian Open semifinal on Wednesday after beating the Russian Andrei Rublevnumber 6 in the world, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4, in just over two hours.

The American tomi paolo (No. 35) will be the next opponent of a Djokovic who, every time he has reached the semifinals of this Grand Slam, has left Melbourne with the title.

The problems with his left leg forgotten, still under a cumbersome bandage, the Serbian once again proved to be intractable at the Rod Laver Arena, the track where on Sunday he wants to equal the 22 Grand Slams of the Spaniard Rafael Nadal.

“I love playing in these conditions at this track. It’s my favorite track,” said “Nole”, adding with a smile that he hopes to “continue” his spectacular stats in the semifinals of Melbourne.

A little physically insecure during the first week’s matches, the Serbian proved right from the start that he was the Djokovic who had run over local idol Álex de Miñaur just two days ago.

Intractable on serve, with up to 14 ‘aces’, the “Djoker” made life unbearable for Rublev compared to the others, returning his powerful serves and dragging him into long rallies that the Russian had a hard time winning.

With suffering, Rublev endured his first serve, but then he gave in. With ‘deuces’ and 2-1 on the board, he hit a forehand with the shaft of his racket and double faulted. Two games later, he gave up serve again.

In the second set, Rublev refined his first serves, but he also found himself immediately down 0-40 at 2-2 which Djokovic did not miss, harassing his rival with deep shots that ended up sending a backhand into the net.

The Russian’s reaction matters little, with two break points in the following game. With one last serve and overturning an exchange that seemed lost, Djokovic saved them to the desperation of Rublev, who complained to the judge about the time taken between serves by the Serbian.

unbalanced, he lost his next game on a double fault and, although he vented his anger with several lashes from the right, he was no longer able to save the set.

“The score in the first two sets doesn’t reflect the reality of the match,” said Djokovic, who used a break early in the third set to keep his lead until the end.

Last year, Nole was unable to compete in Melbourne after being expelled from the country for not being vaccinated against covid. The story is completely different this year, with a Djokovic who seems to be enjoying every game like never before, very relaxed but expecting what can happen in these two remaining games to make history and catch up with Nadal.

After beating Rublev, the Serbian dedicated the match to his mother, present in the audience with his father. “It’s his birthday,” he told Jim Courier, the American in charge of the court interviews. With a smile, Djokovic joined the audience and sang “happy birthday” to Dijana. He has two small steps left to give him the best gift possible.

With the information of the Agencies