Djokovic shocks Federer in straight sets to reach Australian Open final

This does not mean the end of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, but it is most certainly the finish to the era when one of them would clean up in the non-clay Grand Slams and leave the French Open to the other.

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For the first time in three years neither's name will appear on one of the sport's major trophies, a consequence of two extraordinarily lop-sided but different semi-finals.

After Tsonga's tsunami came Novak's annihilation, the 20-year-old Serb bursting through Federer's defences to win 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 and prevent the Swiss reaching an 11th straight Grand Slam final. The former was a joyous romp, the latter ached with tension.

"I've created a monster," lamented the world No 1. "I know I need to win every tournament. Winning every other week, you know, I lose a set now and people say I'm playing bad."

In fact the real monster created by this event is Tsonga, and the question now is whether he can back up his amazing performance against Nadal or if it turns out to be a once-in-a-lifetime match.

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Djokovic is by far the more proven, and his semi-final passage was of a contrasting nature. Whereas the Spaniard did little wrong and was simply blown away, Federer was strained and often below his usual stratospheric standards. By the time he started to resemble his real self in the third set it was too late.

Wimbledon's colossus led 5-3 in the first and then played one of his poorest games in memory to lamely hand the break immediately back and lose nine out of the next 10.

While Djokovic was fearless, especially in the second set, it was a strangely stiff performance from Federer. It hinted at the pressure he may be feeling at closing to within two of Pete Sampras's majors record with Djokovic and Nadal snapping at his sneakers.

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The Federer forehand was dreadul and his movement sluggish, too many short balls were offered to his opponent and his second serve was vulnerable.

All fortnight we have been wondering what is eating at Roger, and he was again tetchy and appeared to be unduly rushing.

But then this has been a rare fortnight when he has not had everything go his way, including being ill before the event. He usually gets through the earlier rounds easier than clearing passport control at Zurich, but thanks to Janko Tipsarevic taking him to five sets it was not the case this time. Djokovic owes his compatriot a debt of gratitude.

Although this was his first straight sets Grand Slam loss since the 2004 French Open it is way too early to start writing off Federer's chances of surpassing Sampras's fourteen big ones. He is only 26 and never seems to get injured, but at last there is a real challenge.

"I paid the price for not serving out the first set, but it's not easy coming out every week trying to win," he said. "You'll always run into top 10 players or others who are on a hot streak and can surprise you. I have played better than in the last week."

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The more assertive Djokovic had clearly benefited from his experience in the U.S. Open final, when he had points to win the first two sets.

Him having been there before might be decisive against Tsonga, but it is a gloriously unpredictable match-up, and not just because they have never played each other before.

What will really assist the Serbian extrovert is if he pulls out first serves as he did on crucial points last night. It helped him save two set points at 5-6 in the third and then upset Federer's remarkable record of winning 22 of 26 tiebreaks in Grand Slams.

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Having a virgin winner of Major opens up a new seam of interest for the sport, and he could use the past tense when discussing the Federer/Nadal hegemony.

"Their dominance was amazing these past few years but it's great for tennis lovers all round the world to see something new," said Djokovic. "I've seen Tsonga's matches and I've been very impressed, he's just living the dream. I'm happy to play with a young player, somebody else.

"I have a lot more experience in important matches but the way he's playing I don't think that will be crucial. It's very dangerous to be playing against someone who has nothing to lose and I expect he'll be going for his shots."