Djokovic beats Federer in straight sets to reach final

Melbourne : World No. 2 Novak Djokovic remained on course to a record extending eighth Australian Open title after beating World No. 3 Roger Federer in straight sets in the semi-final on Thursday at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.

Federer raced to a three set lead in the first set before Djokovic came back to take the first set. He maintained the momentum and in the end, the scoreline read 7-6 (1), 6-4, 6-3 in Djokovic's favour. The 32-year-old will now face either Alexander Zverev or Dominic Thiem, who will play their semi-final tie on Friday.

The first set lasted well over an hour with Federer winning the first two games. This was followed by consecutive breaks with both players winning sets on each other's serve before Federer held and took the score to 4-1 in his favour.

Both players managed to hold on their serve in the next two games before Djokovic broke Federer twice in three games to take the score level to 5-5. Federer broke back and Djokovic did the same in the next game to take the set into the tie-breaker.

Djokovic rattled away the first three points before Federer got one back. However, the Serb rode the momentum and took the tie-break 7-1. Djokovic had won the set after being down 4-1, 40-0.

Federer took a medical break in the interval while Djokovic's physician also tended to him courtside.

Djokovic held the first game comfortably and made Federer work to level things up in the second. Federer managed to keep up until 4-4 after which, Djokovic held and broke to take the set 6-4.

In the third, Federer managed to take just three sets as Djokovic sealed his place in the final. He remains on course to winning his 17th Grand Slam title, putting him two behind Rafael Nadal's record and three behind Federer.

Bopanna bows out to end Indian challenge

Rohan Bopanna and his Ukrainian partner Nadiia Kichenok bowed out in straight sets in the Australian Open quarter-final of the mixed doubles here on Thursday ending India's challenge at the opening Grand Slam of the year.

The Indo-Ukrainian pair lost 0-6, 2-6 to fifth seed Nikola Mektic and Barbora Krejcikova in a lopsided tie.

The Croatian-Czech duo were in the driver's from start to finish as Bopanna and Kichenok could not match their game.

In the second set, Bopanna and Kichenok managed to hold their serve in the first game but once they were broken in the second and the seventh, Mektic and Borbara eased past their rivals and sealed a semi berth.

Veteran Indian tennis star Leander Paes bowed out after losing his second round match in the mixed doubles event on Tuesday.

Paes, who was pairing up with Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko, lost to the duo of Bethanie Mattek-Sands-Briton Jamie Murray 6-2, 7-5 in a match that lasted one hour and seven minutes.

Paes and Ostapenko had moved to the second round after erasing a one-set deficit to edge out Storm Sanders and Marc Polmans 6-7(4), 6-3, 10-6 in their first match of the ongoing tournament.