TENNIS in DEPTH.

Andy Murray pushed Novak Djokovic to the limit of his powers but went down in five sets to miss out on a place in the Australian Open final. The British number one fought back from losing the first set to win the next two, and from 5-2 in the decider. But defending champion Djokovic raised his level to battle through 6-3 3-6 6-7 (4-7) 6-1 7-5 in four hours 50 minutes. The world number one, who beat Murray in the 2011 final, plays Rafael Nadal in Sunday’s showpiece at 0830 GMT. ”I’m extremely delighted to be in another final,” said Djokovic, who looked exhausted when Murray led 2-1. ”It was a physical match. Andy deserves credit for coming back. He was fighting, I was fighting. ”It was one of the best matches I’ve played.”

Murray becomes the fist man in the Open Era to be eliminated in semi-finals at four successive Grand Slams. But he can take heart from one of the best performances of his career so far, just a few weeks into his partnership with new coach Ivan Lendl.

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Federer won a tense tie-break to draw first blood, but Nadal stormed back to clinch the second set 6-2 and level up the match. The Spaniard then edged a third-set tie-break to go two sets to one up before taking the fourth 6-4 to close out victory. The two giants of the men’s game were expected to produce fireworks under the Melbourne lights on Australia Day. And they didn’t disappoint in an epic opener which lasted 56 enthralling minutes. Federer was out of the blocks quickly, producing some imperious tennis to break Nadal in the second game en route to a 3-0 lead. But the Spaniard held his nerve and gradually found a foothold in the match, breaking back in the seventh game. Both men then regained dominance on their serve to take the opener into a tie-break. Federer produced a magnificent deep forehand volley and a sublime backhand half-volley to give himself three set points at 6-3 in the break. And although Nadal saved two – one with a ridiculous forehand – he was long with a backhand on the third.

The second set opened with back-to-back love breaks, and then went with serve until Nadal went into

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Sharapova lost out to the 21-year-old in straight sets in the final at the All-England Club but she settled the score as she recorded a 6-2 3-6 6-4 victory in Melbourne. The fourth seed, who won here in 2008, will now face Victoria Azarenka in Saturday’s final.

Sharapova, though, had to dig deep to secure the win after going a break down in the deciding set, while her serve continued to misfire throughout. In fact Sharapova was guilty of conceding 10 double faults. The Russian’s powerful strokeplay was enough to see her outlast the second seed. And having fashioned two match points in the 10th game of third set, Sharapova took the opportunity to book her final at the Australian Open. ”I felt like in the third set she always had the advantage,” Sharapova said. “I just thought to myself you’ve just got to go for it. ”I just hung in there and got a few returns in there in the last game. ”I love this sport and sometimes even if you’re not playing your best tennis, you can find a way to win.” Kvitova looked completely out of sorts in the first set, with her movement particularly suspect. Sharapova, on the other hand, was full of intensity and forced an early break from the Czech and although her opponent hit

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Victoria Azarenka reached her first Grand Slam final and staked a claim for the No. 1 ranking when she beat defending champion Kim Clijsters 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 in the Australian Open semifinals on Thursday. The third-seeded Azarenka recovered her composure twice in periods when a resurgent Clijsters seemed to have the upper hand, breaking the veteran Belgian’s serve three times in the third set to secure victory in only her second appearance in a major semifinal. The 22-year-old Belarusian will playMaria Sharapova in the Saturday night final.

After a strong start due to a consistent serve, Azarenka’s serve deserted her in the second set and Clijsters dictated play with her solid groundstrokes and some amazing defence. But after getting the momentum back, it was Clijsters who blinked first in the third set, dropping serve in the second game and again in the fourth. She got two of those service games back, including one when she rallied from 40-0 down to win a game to get the score back to 4-3. But Azarenka rallied immediately again, breaking

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Venus Williams will return from illness and her sister, Serena, will play Fed Cup for the first time in nearly five years after being selected in the U.S. team to meet Belarus in a Feb. 4-5 World Group II match at Worcester, Mass. U.S. Fed Cup captain Mary Joe Fernandez announced the team, also containing Christina McHale and Liezel Huber, late Tuesday. “I am looking forward to having Serena and Venus on the team for the first time since I became U.S. Fed Cup captain,” Fernandez said. “They bring so much to this team, not only for what they can do on court, but the influence they will have on Christina and the rest of the team.”

It will be Venus Williams’ first appearance in a sanctioned competition since the U.S. Open, when she revealed she had Sjogren’s Syndrome, an autoimmune disease that can cause fatigue and joint pain. Serena Williams, who lost in the fourth round at the Australian Open, has not played Fed Cup since 2007. The 19-year-old McHale, ranked a career-high No. 42, will be making her second consecutive appearance and third overall for

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Novak Djokovic booked a semi-final against Andy Murray at the Australian Open with a straight-sets win over David Ferrer. Djokovic saw off the challenge of fifth seed Ferrer 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 in Tuesday night’s quarter-final on the Rod Laver Arena. The world number one’s reward is a clash with British hope Murray in the last four, a repeat of the 2011 final which the Serb won in straight sets to set the tone for a year of dominance. Djokovic secured the opening break in the fifth game before going on to serve out the first set in 58 minutes. But Ferrer showed his resilience in the second set, twice retrieving in a break, including when an increasingly frustrated Djokovic served for it at 6-5. A tie-break was required and the Spaniard battled into a 4-2 lead before blowing his chance. Djokovic reeled off five points in a row to turn the tie-break around and claim a two-set lead. Ferrer dropped his opening service game of the third set and, from there, Djokovic was able to close out the result without alarm.

Murray played some sublime tennis at

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Petra Kvitova overcame a spirited challenge from unseeded Sara Errani 6-4 6-4 to advance to the Australian Open semi-finals. The Czech number two seed struggled for rhythm as Errani drew the sting from her groundstrokes in the first set. An erratic Kvitova found herself 4-1 adrift in the second, but wrestled the match her way with five straight games. Kvitova will play fourth seed Maria Sharapova next after she beat fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova 6-2 6-3. Kvitova, who beat Sharapova to win her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon last July, is one of three players vying to supplant Caroline Wozniacki as world number one after the Dane’s quarter-final exit ensured she will drop from the top of the rankings after the tournament.

Petra Kvitova will be the new

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Roger Federer progressed to the semi-finals of the Australian Open with an imperious straight-sets victory over 11th seed Juan Martin del Potro. The third seed needed just under two hours to complete a 6-4 6-3 6-2 win. Del Potro was broken early in all three sets and had no answer to the variety of Federer’s play, with the Swiss yet to lose a set in Melbourne. Federer will play the winner of the quarter-final between second seed Rafael Nadal and Tomas Berdych.

“I thought it was a great match,” said the 16-time Grand Slam champion after a fitting conclusion to his 1,000th match. ”I’m happy. It was tough with the sun and shade creeping across the court. Del Potro is a quality player and I was able to manoeuvre the ball around the court. I hope I can keep it up.”

Federer, competing in his 31st straight Grand Slam quarter-final, had little trouble in disposing of the Argentine in their first meeting in a major tournament since Del Potro’s victory in the final of the US Open in 2009. The Swiss had a slight wobble in the second set, surviving four break points, before resuming his dominance to break in the opening game of the third set and bringing the match to a conclusion with a sumptuous backhand winner.

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