MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Novak Djokovic has won all nine of his Australian Open semifinals and is not ready to let Tommy Paul of the United States ruin his unblemished record on Friday as he closes in on a 22nd Grand Slam crown.

The Serbian, who won his first Slam at Melbourne Park in 2008, struggled physically in the early rounds this year with a hamstring injury.

But straight-sets thrashings of Alex de Minaur and Andrey Rublev for the loss of just 12 games ominously signaled that the favorite is back to his best for the semifinals.

Should he beat the unseeded American on Rod Laver Arena, he will face either third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas or Russian 18th seed Karen Khachanov as a final roadblock to a 10th Australian Open title on Sunday.

Djokovic has extra motivation to go all the way and equal Rafael Nadal's 22nd Grand Slam crowns after missing last year's event when he was deported over his Covid vaccination stance.
In his absence the Spanish great won.

"I always try to give my best, particularly in Grand Slams, because at this stage of my career those are the tournaments that count the most," the 35-year-old said.

"But you could say that there is something extra this year. You could say because, yeah, the injury, what happened last year, I just wanted to really do well."

"So far, I have a perfect score in Australian hard courts, in Adelaide (which he won) and here. I've been playing better and better. I couldn't ask for a better situation to be in at the moment."

With Djokovic on a 26-match win streak at the Australian Open — matching Andre Agassi's Open-era record at the first Grand Slam of the year — the 35th-ranked Paul is a heavy underdog.

The 25-year-old is a surprise semi-finalist, making this far at a major for the first time on the 14th attempt.

"We never played a match against each other. Obviously, he's pretty comfortable here in Australia," Paul said.