Australian Open 2016: Novak Djokovic too hot for Roger Federer - but he can’t win over the crowd

World No 1 reaches sixth Melbourne final, but the biggest cheers in Rod Laver Arena were for the Swiss maestro's brief and ultimately unsuccessful fightback

Novak Djokovic celebrates during his four-set win over Roger Federer (EPA)

Novak Djokovic must wonder what he has to do to win over the public. The world No 1 played what he considered to be his best two sets in the 45 matches he has contested against Roger Federer here, yet by far the biggest cheers in Rod Laver Arena were for his opponent’s brief and ultimately unsuccessful fightback.

Djokovic, who is aiming to win his sixth Australian Open title in nine years, won 6-1, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 to reach his fifth consecutive Grand Slam final. In Sunday’s final he will take on the winner of the second semi-final between Britain’s Andy Murray and Canada’s Milos Raonic.

There were times in the opening two sets when Djokovic looked unplayable. The 28-year-old Serb flew around the court at lightning speed, retrieving everything Federer could throw at him and then firing thunderbolt winning shots from both flanks. “Against Roger, these first two sets have been probably the best two I’ve played against him,” Djokovic said afterwards.

After two sets it seemed that Federer might be heading for one of his heaviest Grand Slam defeats. It was the first time for 15 years that he had won three or fewer games in the first two sets of a match at a Grand Slam tournament.

However, the 34-year-old conjured up some magic of his own in the last two sets. After one point he was given a prolonged standing ovation when chasing back to retrieve a lob that landed on the baseline, returning a smash and then firing a sensational backhand winner down the line.

The momentum was with Federer when he won the third set, to huge cheers from the crowd, but with rain starting to fall the roof was closed and during the short break Djokovic was able to regroup. He broke for the last time in the eighth game of the fourth set and served out to love to claim the victory that finally put him ahead in his head-to-head record with Federer at 23 wins to 22.

Djokovic said later that he was not concerned by the crowd’s overwhelming support for Federer. “He’s loved, he’s appreciated, he’s respected around the world,” Djokovic said. “For me it’s normal, in a way. I’m trying, obviously, to enjoy my time, to do the best that I can with the tennis racket, but also to focus on the positive energy rather than negative, rather than getting frustrated by that.”