MELBOURNE PARK, Australia – Defending champion and World No 1 Novak Djokovic struggled with what appeared to be a left hamstring injury to beat fifth-ranked David Ferrer 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-1 on Wednesday night to complete the Australian Open semifinal picture. This is 4th time that Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Andy Murray comprise the final four at a major. They did so at the 2008 US Open, the 2011 French Open, the 2011 US Open and now the 2012 Australian Open.
Leading in the second set at 2-1, Djokovic stretched chasing a ball with break point against him. The Serbian grabbed his left leg and winced in pain. Play continued and Djokovic and Ferrer went to a second set tiebreak. The Spaniard battled to a 4-2 lead, they Djokovic rattled off five straight point to take the tiebreak and the set.
“Well, luckily for me it wasn’t something that stayed there for long time,” Djokovic said of his injury. “It was just a, you know, sudden pain.”
“But, look, you could exp...
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