Djokovic, Gauff labour into Australian Open semis as long night looms

MELBOURNE : Novak Djokovic and Coco Gauff were both made to toil for semi-final places on a blazing Tuesday at the Australian Open as the tournament was heading for another potentially late evening after the day session spilled over.

Two epic battles in the afternoon meant defending women's champion Aryna Sabalenka did not walk onto Rod Laver Arena until well after 9 p.m. but the Belarusian made short work of Barbora Krejcikova to ease some of the pressure on the schedule.

With fourth seed Jannik Sinner and fifth seed Andrey Rublev following them onto the main showcourt later in the evening, however, fans were gearing up for another long night.

Holder Djokovic was expected to breeze past Taylor Fritz having come into the contest with an 8-0 win-loss record over the 12th seed but he endured a stern test that lasted nearly four hours to prevail 7-6(3) 4-6 6-2 6-3.

"This match was not an enjoyable match for me at all," Djokovic told reporters.

"Of course, I'm proud to overcome the kind of challenge and obstacles and I'm pleased to win but it wasn't enjoyable at all. It was really ... a lot of suffering in every aspect.

"You have days like that where you just have to accept it, face the circumstances and try to make the most out of it."

Fritz, who at 26 is a decade younger than his opponent, made the Serb sweat in a tight first set that the American dropped in a tiebreak before drawing level in the contest on a steamy day where both players looked physically drained at times.

"I played a really high level for the first two sets and they were physically tough. It was like 2-1/2 hours by the time we finished the two sets," said Fritz.

"I need to get to the point where I can do that for five hours."

Djokovic might have had starting