Novak Djokovic paid "huge respect" to Roger Federer on Thursday after he swept past his ailing rival and into a record eighth Australian Open final to move closer to his 17th Grand Slam crown.
In the 50th instalment of one of sport's greatest rivalries, the Serb shrugged off a tentative start to reinforce his recent dominance, showing no mercy to the injury-hit Swiss star in a 7-6, 6-4, 6-3 win.
He will play either fifth seed Dominic Thiem or seventh-ranked German Alexander Zverev in Sunday's final, but it will take a monumental effort to prise another title from the 32-year-old.
Of the seven Melbourne finals Djokovic has made, he has won them all.
If any extra motivation was needed, winning on Sunday will see the Serb reclaim the No 1 ranking after Thiem sent Rafael Nadal packing in the last eight.
"It's never easy to play Roger. I mean, obviously he was hurting. You could see it in his movement. Respect to him for trying his best," said defending champion Djokovic, who is into his 26th Grand Slam final.
"After losing the first set, he got a medical [timeout]. He came back and played all the way through. It's unfortunate that he was not at his best."
It was the fourth time Djokovic had beaten Federer at the semi-final stage in Melbourne after doing the same in 2008, 2011 and 2016.
Federer, the 2018 champion, came into the match carrying a groin injury that he picked up in his five-set, come-from-behind quarter-final win against Tennys Sandgren.
He was seen around Melbourne Park before the match with tape on his upper right leg and there were even rumours that he might pull out.
But that is not in the 38-year-old's nature - he has only ever given up four walkovers in his long career and has never retired in more than 1,500 matches, facts that Djokovic said were "amazing" and deserved "huge respect".
After 5️⃣0️⃣ enthralling battles with Roger Federer over 1️⃣4️⃣ years, @DjokerNole seems to have the winning formula in Melbourne.#AO2020 | #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/NrfWgx8JcG
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 30, 2020
Federer, meanwhile, said he had no plans to retire and insisted he was still in good enough shape to win Grand Slam titles.
"Yes, I do believe that," the world No 3 said, when asked he if he was confident about adding to his 20 major titles. "I think by having the year that I had last year, also with what I have in my game, how I'm playing, I do feel that, yeah."
Federer, who reached last year's Roland Garros semi-finals and lost a five-set Wimbledon final to Djokovic, said he hopes to return to Melbourne in 2021 for a crack at a seventh title.
"You never know what the future holds. Especially my age, you don't know," he said. "I'm confident. I'm happy how I'm feeling, to be honest. I got through a good, nice training block. No plans to retire.
"I don't think I would have gone on court if I felt like I had no chance to win."
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 30, 2020
In true @rogerfederer style, the six-time #AusOpen champion was always going to battle it out for the chance to play in his eighth final down under.#AO2020 pic.twitter.com/q0WNF4DqIN
"From that standpoint, we'll see how the year goes, how everything is with the family. We'll go from there. Of course, I hope to be back."
Federer said he took a day off after the Sandgren match and barely warmed up for Djokovic, but felt he was in good enough shape to at least give the Serb a run for his money.
"Today was horrible, to go through what I did. Nice entrance, nice sendoff, and in between is one to forget because you know you have a three percent chance to win," he said.
"It's frustrating. [But] I don't think I would have gone on court if I felt like I had no chance to win. We saw I was still being able to make a match out of it.
"Who knows maybe how he feels as well. He's a great, great player. We know that. He makes you hit balls. He serves well, he returns well, he moves well. He's mentally very tough."
