• Australian Open, Day 10

Murray gets chance for revenge as Djokovic wins

Novak Djokovic played through the pain barrier to defeat David Ferrer at the Australian Open © Getty Images

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ESPN will be providing extensive coverage of the Australian Open, with live scores, commentary and analysis and you can follow it all with our live scorecentre

Men's: Murray cruises past Nishikori
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The semi-finals of the 2012 Australian Open will feature a repeat of last year's final after Novak Djokovic played through the pain barrier to beat David Ferrer and set up a clash with Andy Murray on Wednesday.

Defending champion Djokovic proved too good for Murray in the 2011 showpiece, inflicting a third grand slam final defeat on the Brit. The victory marked the start of a sensational campaign for the Serbian, but it remains to be seen what physical state he will be in for the semi-finals.

Against Ferrer at Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday, Djokovic came through significant adversity after appearing to damage his hamstring. A pivotal second set saw Ferrer break twice en route to a tiebreaker, but Djokovic soldiered through to win 6-4 7-6(4) 6-1.

The form produced by Ferrer over the last year has surely been the best of his career. The Spaniard reached more finals than in any other year of his career, winning two of the four, and he ended 2011 with a thumping straight sets win over the world No. 1 at the ATP World Tour Finals - their last meeting.

In total the pair had played each other on 11 previous occasions, with Ferrer boasting a healthy tally of five victories, but from the moment they played the first point Djokovic stamped his class on the contest. An inside-out forehand winner, followed by a brilliant 34-shot rally, helped him on his way to three break points in the opening game, and although Ferrer rescued the situation on that occasion he was instantly on the back foot.

By the end of game three Ferrer had saved six break points, and it was no surprise that his third service game finally collapsed under the pressure of Djokovic, who was dismissing the ball from one corner of the court to the other. That allowed the champion to serve for the set a few games later, something he managed - albeit after defending a rare break point against him.

On two previous occasions Djokovic and Ferrer had met in grand slam competition, and both times the Serb walked away with straight-sets victories. More of the same seemed to be on the agenda when he broke immediately in the first game of the second set, but then potential disaster struck.

As Ferrer clinched his first break in the fourth game to level at 2-2, a stretching Djokovic pulled up sharply whilst clutching at his hamstring. He spent the next game limply moving around the court, but no trainer was called at the changeover.

Further points went the way of Ferrer as Djokovic became selective over which balls to chase down in the sixth game, allowing Ferrer to create another break chance. The Spaniard went on the offensive, battering Djokovic to the point of submission, but the champion suddenly discarded his injury concerns to hit a brilliant running cross-court forehand winner en route to holding his serve.

It was a point that seemed to change Djokovic's mentality - suddenly he believed in his leg once again, he trusted it enough to slide across court like he was on the clay of Roland Garros, and after an exchange of breaks they went to a tiebreaker. Ferrer struck first for 3-1 in the breaker, but Djokovic levelled at 4-4 after an outstanding 22-shot rally, before closing out the set for a 2-0 lead.

Ferrer is never one to give in but he must have known his chance was gone. The previously fragile Djokovic had dealt with his injury traumas and now had the belief to fire himself into a 4-1 lead in the decider. Winners began to arrive off both forehand and backhand side as they had in the first set, and the champion closed out the contest with an ace.

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