Novak Djokovic was hot, bothered and exhausted, as he claimed after his Australian Open quarter-final victory on Rod Laver Arena on Jan 23.
But he is Djokovic after all, and the signs are that nothing - and nobody will be able to stop him as he stayed on track for a recordbreaking 25th Grand Slam title.
The Serbian world No. 1 struggled with the conditions early in the contest against Taylor Fritz, but defied the fierce Melbourne heat and a battling performance from his American opponent to prevail 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. He will next take on Italian Jannik Sinner for a place in the final on Jan 28.
Sinner saw off Russian Andrey Rublev 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 on Jan 23.
"It was extremely hot when the sun was still out there. Physically and emotionally very draining. But huge round of applause to Fritz for a great performance today," Djokovic said after the match, which stretched to 3hr 45min.
"My conversion of the break points was really poor, but I think at the end of the day I managed to break him when it really mattered, in the third and the fourth sets.
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