If there was any question about recovery from his five hour battle in the fourth round, Novak Djokovic answered with a resounding win at the Australian Open.
The defending champ beat No. 5 seed Tomas Berdych 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 to make his 11th consecutive Grand Slam semi-final.
"He's probably the fittest guy on tour right now," Berdych said.
Djokovic does have help in his recovery process. The Serb has two physical trainers, Gebhard Phil-Gritsch and Miljan Amanovic, who keep the two time Australian champ strong and injury free.
"I have a great team of people around me that are doing the best they can in their expertise to make me feel ready for physically, mentally, emotionally, every match, every challenge," he said after defeating Berdych.
With no evidence of the 5 hour struggle against Wawrinka, Djokovic easily handled the big serving Czech and often had Berdych standing flat footed.
"It was a great performance," Djokovic said. "I was hoping to have a shorter match and not go over five hours like the last match.
For Djokovic, it is now onto the semi-finals against Spain’s David Ferrer who had his own marathon with a victory over fellow countryman Nicolas Almagro.Ferrer came from two sets down to beat Almagro 4-6 4-6 7-5 7-6 6-2 but knows he will need even more to win his first Grand Slam final against Djokovic.
In all his other Grand Slam semi-final appearances, Ferrer has lost, including two to Djokvic, one in 2007 at the U.S Open and last year.
"It was a miracle I won this match," said Ferrer. "I tried to fight and do my best but next round I need to play my best tennis, better than today," he said. "Nole is a special player."
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