Sinner powers past Rublev to set up Djokovic showdown

MELBOURNE : Italy's Jannik Sinner set up a mouth-watering Australian Open semi-final against Novak Djokovic as he fought off Andrey Rublev in a late-night duel at Melbourne Park on Tuesday.

The fourth seed showed patience and resilience to claim a 6-4 7-6(5) 6-3 win against the Russian who now owns the ugly record of 10 defeats out of 10 in Grand Slam quarter-finals.

Fifth seed Rublev, as he always does, threw the kitchen sink at his opponent but was left with the same old sinking feeling as he consistently failed to take his chances, especially when leading the second set tiebreak 5-1.

That proved pivotal as Sinner hit back in majestic fashion to take the second set and from that moment on the outcome never looked in doubt.

Rublev wore a world-weary expression in the third set and dropped serve to hand Sinner a 4-2 lead and the clean-hitting Italian duly closed out a comfortable win at nearly 1.30am local time to reach his first Australian Open semi-final.

The 22-year-old Sinner will take heart for his forthcoming battle with 10-time champion Djokovic on Friday having beaten him in the ATP Finals at the end of last year.