MELBOURNE, Feb 16 — Eight-time winner Novak Djokovic smashed his racquet en route to a tense, four-set win over Germany’s Alexander Zverev to reach his 39th Grand Slam semi-final at the Australian Open today.

It was a patchy performance from the world number one, who is nursing an abdominal injury and drew deeply on his mental fortitude to win 6-7 (6/8), 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (8/6).

Djokovic will be hot favourite to advance to Sunday’s final when he plays Russian qualifier Aslan Karatsev, who continued his dream run with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 win against injured Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov.

The Serb remains on track for a record-extending ninth Australian Open title and 18th Grand Slam trophy, nipping at the heels of rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, who both have 20.

Zverev lost to Dominic Thiem in last year’s Melbourne semi-finals, and fell agonisingly short against the Austrian at last year’s US Open in his only Grand Slam final. — AFP