Iron man Djokovic reaches last four

MELBOURNE (AFP): Super-fit reigning champion Novak Djokovic shrugged off the exertions of his five-hour epic with Stanislas Wawrinka as he booked an Australian Open semi-final with David Ferrer on Tuesday.

The world number one, showing no ill-effects from his late-night showdown 48 hours earlier, suffered a second-set lapse against Czech fifth seed Tomas Berdych but was never seriously troubled in the 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 win.

The resilient Serb, who came through a record five hour 53 minute final against Rafael Nadal last year, said he was glad to get the job done against Berdych in two hours 31 minutes – exactly half the length of his match with Wawrinka.