Novak Djokovic reached a record fifth Australian Open final by battling past defending champions Stanislas Wawrinka in a five-set epic this morning.
The top seed recorded a 7-6(1) 3-6 6-4 4-6 6-0 victory in three hours and 35 minutes to set up a showdown with Britain's Andy Murray in Melbourne on Sunday.
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Wawrinka, who expressed early frustration on the court, found the first break point of the match after 20 minutes and converted when Djokovic sent his forehand long.
However, the world number one immediately broke back following a loose error from Wawrinka to keep the set evenly poised.
Djokovic came close to wrapping up the set in the 10th game, but Wawrinka saved two set points to eventually force through a tie-break, which the Serbian secured easily 7-1.
The second set was a tight affair with games going by the way of serve until the defending champion found the breakthrough to take a 4-2 lead, but this time the Swiss pro was able to hold his serve and eventually took the set.
Djokovic raised his game in the third by romping to a 3-0 lead, while the intensity from Wawrinka began slipping as the 29-year-old committed his 37th unforced error.
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As the contest progressed, Djokovic also struggled to keep his momentum as he lost serve and eventually relinquished his lead and allowed Wawrinka to level 4-4.
However, the Serbian managed to come through by wrapping up the set before taking an early break in the fourth.
Djokovic looked on course for victory until a double fault and two poor backhands gave Wawrinka the chance to break back, which he was able to do.
With the set at 3-3, Djokovic had to hold serve to keep proceedings level, but he crumbled by making numerous mistakes, one of which resulted in his backhand flying long behind the baseline, and Wawrinka snatched the opportunity to go a break up.
After forcing the match into a fifth set, Wawrinka struggled to keep his momentum as Djokovic took an early break and raced to a 4-0 lead.
There was to be one last attempt of a rally from the Swiss as he put pressure on Djokovic's serve in game five, only to squander his crucial break-point opportunity.
The four-time champion produced a stunning backhand down the line on his way to a third straight break which secured him revenge on Wawrinka for his elimination at the quarter-final stage of this major last year.
Danielle Joynson
