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The Times of India
The Times of India
Sport
Prajwal Hegde | TNN

Australian Open: Djokovic rolls over Rublev

MELBOURNE: Andrey Rublev's face reflected the wreckage of Novak Djokovic's devastating play in the last of the Australian Open men's quarterfinals.

Djokovic, playing with a heavily strapped hamstring, moved freely, covering his end of the court while opening up his opponent's side, to pull off a 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 win and move into the semifinals at Melbourne Park for the tenth time.

In the last four on Friday, the fourth-seeded Serb plays American Tommy Paul, who came through 7-6 (6), 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 against compatriot Ben Shelton to make his first major semifinal. "Making it to the second weekend of a Slam, that's everyone's dream when they start playing tennis," Paul said. "I can't believe I'm here right now."

Djokovic, who had 32 winners in the two-hour feature, had an issue with a spectator early in the match, which seemed to be the only problem he had in the exchange. He brought that to the attention of the chair umpire, but quickly settled into business soon after.

"Overall, I think that the scoreline in the first two sets doesn't speak the truth," said Djokovic in his on-court interview. "There were some close games that we had. If I have to sum it up, all the important shots, the important moments I found my best tennis," said Djokovic.

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