Djokovic bounces back with easy win over Berdych

Novak Djokovic bounced back from a marathon five-setter just 48 hours earlier as he skated into the Australian Open semi-finals with a untroubled win over Tomas Berdych on Tuesday.

The Serbian world No 1, chasing a hat-trick of Australian crowns, showed no ill-effects of his torrid five-hour dogfight with Stanislas Wawrinka as he beat the Czech fifth seed, 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 in 2 hours 31 minutes.

Djokovic now faces a semi-final on Thursday against Spanish fourth seed David Ferrer, who fought back to beat countryman Nicolas Almagro in five sets earlier Tuesday.

“I felt good enough to go another five hours, but I definitely wasn’t thinking about it,” Djokovic said.

“I tried to get the work done as fast and efficient as possible. I was very happy with the way I started the match.

“I was very aggressive out there, going for my shots, which wasn’t the case against Wawrinka. So, it’s a good improvement and very encouraging for next match.”

Most interest centred on how Djokovic would recover after his epic fourth-round match with Wawrinka, but he dispelled fears by easily claiming the opening set for the loss of one game in 29 minutes.