(January 27, 2016) The semifinal between No. 1 Novak Djokovic and No. 3 Roger Federer at the Australian Open on Thursday night will mark the 45th time that these two players have played each other. Here is a look at their head-to-head record.
1 NOVAK DJOKOVIC (SRB) v NO. 3 ROGER FEDERER (SUI)
Head-to-head: tied 22-22
2006 AMS Monte Carlo Clay (O) R64 Federer 63 26 63
2006 Davis Cup WG-PO Hard (I) R4 Federer 63 62 63
2007 Australian Open Hard (O) R16 Federer 62 75 63
2007 Dubai Hard (O) QF Federer 63 67(6) 63
2007 AMS Montreal Hard (O) FR Djokovic 76(2) 26 76(2)
2007 US Open Hard (O) FR Federer 76(4) 76(2) 64
2008 Australian Open Hard (O) SF Djokovic 75 63 76(5)
2008 AMS Monte Carlo Clay (O) SF Federer 63 3-2 ret. (illness)
2008 US Open Hard (O) SF Federer 63 57 75 62
2009 Miami-1000 Hard (O) SF Djokovic 36 62 63
2009 Rome-1000 Clay (O) SF Djokovic 46 63 63
2009 Cincinnati-1000 Hard (O) FR Federer 61 75
2009 US Open Hard (O) SF Federer 76(3) 75 75
2009 Basel Hard (I) FR Djokovic 64 46 62
2010 Toronto-1000 Hard (O) SF Federer 61 36 75
2010 US Open Hard (O) SF Djokovic 57 61 57 62 75
2010 Shanghai Hard (O) SF Federer 75 64
2010 Basel Hard (I) FR Federer 64 36 61
2010 ATP World Tour Finals Hard (I) SF Federer 61 64
2011 Australian Open Hard (O) SF Djokovic 76(3) 75 64
2011 Dubai Hard (O) FR Djokovic 63 63
2011 Indian Wells-1000 Hard (O) SF Djokovic 63 36 62
2011 Roland Garros Clay (O) SF Federer 76(5) 63 36 76(5)
2011 US Open Hard (O) SF Djokovic 67(7) 46 63 62 75
2012 Rome-1000 Clay (O) SF Djokovic 62 76(4)
2012 Roland Garros Clay(O) SF Djokovic 64 75 63
2012 Wimbledon Grass (O) SF Federer 63 36 64 63
2012 Cincinnati-1000 Hard (O) FR Federer 60 76(7)
2012 ATP World Tour Finals Hard (I) FR Djokovic 76(6) 75
2013 Paris-1000 Hard (I) SF Djokovic 46 63 62
2013 ATP World Tour Finals Hard (I) RR Djokovic 64 67(2) 62
2014 Dubai Hard (O) SF Federer 36 63 62
2014 Indian Wells-1000 Hard (O) FR Djokovic 36 63 76(3)
2014 Monte Carlo-1000 Clay (O) SF Federer 75 62
2014 Wimbledon Grass (O) FR Djokovic 67(7) 64 76(4) 57 64
2014 Shanghai-1000 Hard (O) SF Federer 64 64
2014 ATP World Tour Finals Hard (I) FR Djokovic w/o (back)
2015 Dubai Hard (O) FR Federer 63 75
2015 Indian Wells-1000 Hard (O) FR Djokovic 63 67(5) 62
2015 Rome-1000 Clay (O) FR Djokovic 64 63
2015 Wimbledon Grass (O) FR Djokovic 76(1) 67(10) 64 63
2015 Cincinnati-1000 Hard (O) FR Federer 76(1) 63
2015 US Open Hard (O) FR Djokovic 64 57 64 64
2015 ATP World Tour Finals Hard (I) RR Federer 75 62
2015 ATP World Tour Finals Hard (I) FR Djokovic 63 64
This is the 45th meeting between Djokovic and Federer. This is the 2nd-most matches played in a head-to-head at Tour-level in the Open Era:
| Novak Djokovic v Rafael Nadal | 47 |
| Roger Federer v Novak Djokovic | 45 |
| Ivan Lendl v John McEnroe | 36 |
If Djokovic wins today, he will lead each of the other members of the big 5 – Federer, Murray (21-9), Nadal (24-23) and Wawrinka (20-4) – in their previous head-to-heads for the first time. Only 4 players hold a winning record against Djokovic at Tour-level where multiple matches have been played – Fernando Gonzalez (2-1), Ivo Karlovic (2-1), Andy Roddick (5-4) and Marat Safin (2-0).
This is Djokovic and Federer’s 15th Grand Slam encounter, extending their record for the most match-ups at the majors:
| No. of GS match-ups | Win-loss | |
| Novak Djokovic v Roger Federer | 14 | Djokovic leads 8-6 |
| Novak Djokovic v Rafael Nadal | 13 | Nadal leads 9-4 |
| Roger Federer v Rafael Nadal | 11 | Nadal leads 9-2 |
| Ivan Lendl v John McEnroe | 10 | Lendl leads 7-3 |
Both Djokovic and Federer are bidding to reach their 6th Australian Open final and become the first man in the Open Era to reach 6 Australian Open finals.
No. of Australian Open final appearances (Open Era)
| Novak Djokovic | 5 |
| Stefan Edberg | 5 |
| Roger Federer | 5 |
| Andre Agassi | 4 |
| Ivan Lendl | 4 |
| Andy Murray | 4 |
| Mats Wilander | 4 |
[NB Andy Murray could reach his 5th AO final if he defeats Raonic in Friday’s semifinal]
Possible final head-to-heads
| Murray | Raonic | |
| Djokovic | 21-9 | 5-0 |
| Federer | 14-11 | 9-2 |
DJOKOVIC v FEDERER
28 Age 34
6’2”/1.88m Height 6’1”/1.85m
1 ATP Ranking 3
60 Titles 88
212-34 Career Grand Slam Record 302-49
10 titles Best Grand Slam performance 17 titles
55-6 Australian Open Record 80-12
696-146 Career Record 1067-239
459-86 Career Record – Hard 664-134
10-0 2016 Record 8-1
10-0 2016 Record – Hard 8-1
26-8 Career Five-Set Record 23-19
4 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 9
191-111 Career Tiebreak Record 387-211
3-1 2016 Tiebreak Record 1-1
Road to the Semifinals
| DJOKOVIC | Time | Time | FEDERER | |
| d. Hyeon Chung 63 62 64 | 1:55 | 1st round | 1:12 | d. Nikoloz Basilashvili 62 61 62 |
| d. (WC) Quentin Halys 61 62 76(3) | 1:40 | 2nd round | 1:33 | d. Alexandr Dolgopolov 63 75 61 |
| d. No. 2 Andreas Seppi 61 75 76(6) | 2:21 | 3rd round | 2:40 | d. No. 27 Grigor Dimitrov 64 36 61 64 |
| d. No. 14 Gilles Simon 63 67(1) 64 46 63
d. No. 7 Kei Nishikori 63 62 64 |
4:32
2:07 |
Round of 16 Quarterfinals |
1:28
2:16 |
d. No. 15 David Goffin 62 61 64
d. No. 6 Tomas Berdych 76(4) 62 64 |
| total time on court | 12:35 | (IBM time) | 9:09 | total time on court |
- Five-time champion DJOKOVIC is bidding to reach his 5th consecutive Grand Slam final and move into joint-3rd place on the list for the most consecutive major finals reached in the Open Era. Just 2 different men in the Open Era have reached 5 or more consecutive Grand Slam finals.
| Player | Consecutive Grand Slam finals | |
| 1 | Roger Federer | 10 – 2005 Wimbedon – 2007 US Open |
| 2 | Roger Federer | 8 – 2008 Roland Garros – 2010 Australian Open |
| 3 | Rafael Nadal
Novak Djokovic?? |
5 – 2011 Roland Garros – 2012 Roland Garros
5 – 2015 Australian Open – 2016 Australian Open?? |
- Djokovic is bidding to reach his 19th Grand Slam final and move into equal-3rd place with Ivan Lendl on the all-time list of most appearances in Grand Slam finals.
| 1 | Roger Federer?? | 28?? |
| 2 | Rafael Nadal | 20 |
| 3= | Novak Djokovic??
Ivan Lendl |
19??
19 |
| 5 | Pete Sampras | 18 |
| 6 | Rod Laver | 17 |
| 7= | Bjorn Borg | 16 |
| Ken Rosewall | 16 |
- Djokovic is through to his 29th Grand Slam semifinal. Every time he has reached the semifinals here he has gone on to win the title. He has an 18-10 win-loss record in his 28 previous Grand Slam semifinals:
| Grand Slam | Semifinal Result | Eventual finish |
| 2007 Roland Garros | l. Rafael Nadal 75 64 62 | |
| 2007 Wimbledon | l. Nadal 36 61 4-1 ret. (infected toe blister) | |
| 2007 US Open | d. David Ferrer 64 64 63 | Runner-up |
| 2008 Australian Open | d. Roger Federer 75 63 76(5) | Winner |
| 2008 Roland Garros | l. Nadal 64 62 76(3) | |
| 2008 US Open | l. Federer 63 57 75 62 | |
| 2009 US Open | l. Federer 76(3) 75 75 | |
| 2010 Wimbledon | l. Tomas Berdych 63 76(9) 63 | |
| 2010 US Open | d. Federer 57 61 57 62 75 | Runner-up |
| 2011 Australian Open | d. Federer 76(3) 75 64 | Winner |
| 2011 Roland Garros | l. Federer 76(5) 63 36 76(5) | |
| 2011 Wimbledon | d. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 76(4) 62 67(9) 63 | Winner |
| 2011 US Open | d. Federer 67(7) 46 63 62 75 | Winner |
| 2012 Australian Open | d. Andy Murray 63 36 67(4) 61 75 | Winner |
| 2012 Roland Garros | d. Federer 64 75 63 | Runner-up |
| 2012 Wimbledon | l. Federer 63 36 64 63 | |
| 2012 US Open | d. Ferrer 26 61 64 62 | Runner-up |
| 2013 Australian Open | d. Ferrer 62 62 61 | Winner |
| 2013 Roland Garros | l. Nadal 64 36 61 67(3) 97 | |
| 2013 Wimbledon | d. Juan Martin del Potro 75 46 76(2) 67(6) 63 | Runner-up |
| 2013 US Open | d. Stan Wawrinka 26 76(4) 36 63 64 | Runner-up |
| 2014 Roland Garros | d. Ernests Gulbis 63 63 36 63 | Runner-up |
| 2014 Wimbledon | d. Grigor Dimitrov 64 36 76(2) 76(7) | Winner |
| 2014 US Open | l. Kei Nishikori 64 16 76(4) 63 | |
| 2015 Australian Open | d. Wawrinka 76(1) 36 64 46 60 | Winner |
| 2015 Roland Garros | d. Murray 63 63 57 57 61 | Runner-up |
| 2015 Wimbledon | d. Richard Gasquet 76(2) 64 64 | Winner |
| 2015 US Open | d. Marin Cilic 60 61 62 | Winner |
| 2016 Australian Open | v. Federer | ?? |
- Djokovic is bidding to record his 56th match-win at the Australian Open and equal Stefan Edberg in 2nd place on the list for most Australian Open match-wins in the Open Era.
| Player | Win-loss |
| Roger Federer Stefan Edberg Novak Djokovic |
80-12 56-10 55-6 |
| Andre Agassi | 48-5 |
| Ivan Lendl | 48-10 |
- The last time the top seed failed to reach the Australian Open final was in 2011, when Nadal lost in the quarterfinals.
- Djokovic has won 15 of his last 16 Tour-level matches against Top 10 opposition. His only defeat in that time came to No. 3 today’s opponent in the round-robin at the 2015 ATP World Tour Finals. He has won 12 of his last 13 matches against Top 10 opposition at the Grand Slams, with his only defeat in that time coming against No. 9 Stan Wawrinka in the 2015 Roland Garros final.
- Djokovic has reached his 29th Grand Slam semifinal and taken sole ownership of 3rd place on the list for the most Grand Slam semifinal appearances in the Open Era.
Grand Slam semifinals reached (Open Era)
| Player | No. of GS semifinals |
| Roger Federer | 39 |
| Jimmy Connors | 31 |
| Novak Djokovic | 29 |
| Ivan Lendl | 28 |
| Andre Agassi | 26 |
- Djokovic has reached his 6th Australian Open semifinal and moved into joint-4th position on the table for most appearances in the last 4 here in the Open Era.
Australian Open semifinals reached (Open Era)
| Player | No. of AO semifinals |
| Roger Federer | 12 |
| Stefan Edberg | 8 |
| Ivan Lendl | 7 |
| Andre Agassi
Novak Djokovic Andy Murray |
6
6 6 |
| Pete Sampras
Mats Wilander |
5
5 |
- Djokovic’s victory over Simon in the round of 16 here extended his 5-set match-winning streak to 6-matches. He hasn’t lost a 5-set match since he was defeated by Wawrinka in the quarterfinals here in 2014. He has a 26-8 five-set win-loss record and a 5-2 win-loss record in 5-set matches at Melbourne Park.
- Djokovic is on a 13-match winning streak in Tour-level matches. He hasn’t lost a match since he was defeated by today’s opponent in the round-robin at the 2015 ATP World Tour Finals. He still went on to win the title there as well as at Doha. His longest winning streak came in 2011, when he won 43 matches in a row.
- Djokovic is on an 19-match Grand Slam winning streak. He has not lost a Grand Slam match since he was defeated by Wawrinka in the 2015 Roland Garros final. His longest Grand Slam match-winning streak is 27, which took in the titles at 2011 Wimbledon, the 2011 US Open and the 2012 Australian Open, and a runner-up finish at 2012 Roland Garros.
- Djokovic is looking to equal Roy Emerson’s record of 6 Australian titles and become the 10th man in history to win 6 titles at any Grand Slam event [see Preview pages 1-2].
- Last year here Djokovic won his 5th Australian Open title, defeating Murray 76(5) 67(4) 63 60 in the final. He also won the titles here in 2008 (d. Tsonga), 2011 (d. Murray), 2012 (d. Nadal) and 2013 (d. Murray). This is his 12th Australian Open and his 45th Grand Slam overall.
- Elsewhere at the majors in 2015, Djokovic won the titles at Wimbledon and the US Open, defeating today’s opponent on both occasions to take his major total to 10. He also reached the final at Roland Garros, losing to Wawrinka. He became the 3rd player in the Open Era to reach all 4 Grand Slam finals in a calendar year after Rod Laver (1969) and Federer (2006-07, 2009).
- Djokovic won 11 titles in 15 finals in 2015 and in so doing finished the year with a prize money haul of $21,592,125. He finished the year ranked No. 1 for the 4th time after winning his 4th consecutive ATP World Tour Finals crown.
- Djokovic warmed up for the 2016 Australian Open by winning his 60th career singles title at Doha (d. Nadal).
- Djokovic started working with 2-time Australian Open champion Boris Becker in 2014. He has also been coached by Marian Vajda since June 2006. His wider team includes physios Miljan Amanovic and Gebhard Phil-Gritsch.
- 4-time Australian Open champion FEDERER is bidding to become the 3rd different man in the Open Era to reach the Australian Open final aged 34 or over. At 34 years 176 days, he would become the 4th oldest Australian Open finalist overall:
Oldest men to reach Australian Open final (Open Era)
| Age | Player | Year |
| 37 years 62 days | Ken Rosewall | 1972 |
| 36 years 306 days | Mal Anderson | 1972 |
| 36 years 73 days | Ken Rosewall | 1971 |
| 34 years 176 days | Roger Federer | 2016?? |
N.B. Player ages are calculated at the end of the tournament
- Federer is also looking to reach his 28th Grand Slam final, and extend the all-time record that he took sole ownership of at 2009 Wimbledon. Federer has a 27-11 win-loss record in Grand Slam semifinals and a 5-6 win-loss record in semifinals here:
Grand Slam finals reached (all-time)
| Player | No. of GS finals |
| Roger Federer | 28?? |
| Rafael Nadal | 20 |
| Novak Djokovic
Ivan Lendl |
19??
19 |
- Federer is looking to record his 10th victory over a player ranked No. 1. His most recent victory over a No. 1 ranked player came against today’s opponent in the round-robin at the 2015 ATP World Tour Finals. He has a 9-18 win-loss record against No. 1 players overall and a 1-7 record against them at the majors. His only victory over a No. 1 player at a Grand Slam came against today’s opponent in the semifinals at 2012 Wimbledon.
Federer’s win-loss record v No. 1 ranked players
| Novak Djokovic | 5-10 |
| Rafael Nadal | 2-6 |
| Lleyton Hewitt | 1-3 |
| Andy Roddick | 1-0 |
| Juan Carlos Ferrero | 0-1 |
- Federer is looking to win his first semifinal here since 2010. Six of his 11 Grand Slam semifinal defeats have come at Melbourne Park:
Federer’s Australian Open semifinal appearances
| Grand Slam | Opponent | Result |
| 2004 | Juan Carlos Ferrero | Won 64 61 64 |
| 2005 | Marat Safin | Lost 57 64 57 76(6) 97 |
| 2006 | Nicolas Kiefer | Won 63 57 60 62 |
| 2007 | Andy Roddick | Won 64 60 62 |
| 2008 | Novak Djokovic | Lost 75 63 76(5) |
| 2009 | Andy Roddick | Won 62 75 75 |
| 2010 | Jo-Wilfried Tsonga | Won 62 63 62 |
| 2011 | Novak Djokovic | Lost 76(3) 75 64 |
| 2012 | Rafael Nadal | Lost 67(5) 62 76(5) 64 |
| 2013 | Andy Murray | Lost 64 67(5) 63 67(2) 62 |
| 2014 | Rafael Nadal | Lost 76(4) 63 63 |
| 2016 | Novak Djokovic | ??? |
- Federer has reached his 12th Australian Open semifinal and taken sole occupancy of 2nd place on the list for the most semifinals reached at any one Grand Slam event.
No. of semifinals reached at any one Grand Slam event (Open Era)
| Player | No. of semifinals |
| Jimmy Connors | 14 (US Open) |
| Roger Federer | 12 (Australian Open) |
| Jimmy Connors | 11 (Wimbledon) |
- Federer has reached his 39th Grand Slam semifinal and extended the record he broke at 2012 Wimbledon for the most Grand Slam semifinal appearances:
Grand Slam semifinals reached (Open Era)
| Player | No. of GS semifinals |
| Roger Federer | 39 |
| Jimmy Connors | 31 |
| Novak Djokovic | 29 |
| Ivan Lendl | 28 |
| Andre Agassi | 26 |
- Federer is bidding to record his 81st match-win at Melbourne Park and extend his win-loss record at the Australian Open, his most successful Grand Slam event in terms of matches won.
| Titles won | Win-loss record | Finals reached | |
| Australian Open | 4 | 80-12 | 6?? |
| Roland Garros | 1 | 65-16 | 5 |
| Wimbledon | 7 | 79-10 | 10 |
| US Open | 5 | 78-11 | 7 |
- At 34 years 176 days, Federer has become the oldest man to reach the semifinals at the Australian Open since Colin Dibley (aged 35 years 105 days) in 1979. He is the oldest man to reach the semifinals at a Grand Slam since Andre Agassi (aged 35 years 135 days) at the 2005 US Open.
- Federer recorded his 300th career Grand Slam match-win in the 3rd round here. Federer has won more Grand Slam matches than any other player in the Open Era. Connors is his closest rival, with 233 Grand Slam match-wins. He is looking to avoid suffering his 50th Grand Slam defeat today.
Most Open Era Grand Slam match-wins
| Roger Federer | 302-49 |
| Jimmy Connors | 233-49 |
| Andre Agassi | 224-53 |
| Ivan Lendl | 222-49 |
| Novak Djokovic | 212-34 |
| Pete Sampras | 203-38 |
| Rafael Nadal | 198-30 |
Active players in bold. (Through quarterfinals at the 2016 Australian Open)
- Federer is looking to close the gap on Martina Navratilova for the most Grand Slam singles match-wins by a man or woman. Navratilova has a 306-49 win-loss record at the Grand Slams, ahead of Chris Evert (299-37) and Serena Williams (290-40).
- Last year here Federer fell in the 3rd round to Andreas Seppi, who brought an end to his 22-match winning streak against Italian opposition. It was the first time he had failed to reach the semifinals at the Australian Open since 2003 and his earliest exit in Melbourne since he fell in the 3rd round in 2001 (l. Arnaud Clement).
- Federer is looking to become the 3rd man in history to win 5 Australian Open singles titles after Roy Emerson (6) and today’s opponent (5) [see Preview page 1].
- At 34 years 176 days, Federer is looking to become the oldest man to win a Grand Slam title since Andres Gimeno won 1972 Roland Garros aged 34 years 306 days. He is also looking to become the oldest man to win the Australian Open since Ken Rosewall, who was 37 years 62 days when he lifted the title in 1972.
- Elsewhere in Grand Slam play in 2015 he reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros (l. Stan Wawrinka) and finished as runner-up to today’s opponent at both Wimbledon and the US Open.
- This is Federer’s 67th major appearance and his 65th straight Grand Slam event. He is in 2nd place on the list for the most Grand Slams played in the Open Era behind Fabrice Santoro (70) [see Preview pages 4-5].
- Federer warmed up for the Australian Open by reaching the final as top seed at Brisbane (l. Milos Raonic). It was his 3rd straight final in Brisbane and his 2nd runner-up finish at the tournament in 3 years.
- Federer won 6 titles in 2015 – his highest tally since 2012 – at Brisbane (d. Raonic), Dubai (d. today’s opponent), Istanbul (d. Pablo Cuevas), Halle (d. Seppi), Cincinnati-1000 (d. today’s opponent) and Basel (d. Nadal).
- Federer has won 4 titles here – in 2004 (d. Marat Safin 76 64 62), 2006 (d. Marcos Baghdatis 57 75 60 62), 2007
(d. Fernando Gonzalez 76 64 64) and 2010 (d. Andy Murray 63 64 76).
- Federer is a 17-time Grand Slam singles champion. His last title at a major came at 2012 Wimbledon
(d. Murray). He was one of 7 Grand Slam champions to start in this year’s men’s singles main draw.
- Federer is coached by 2006 Australian Open quarterfinalist Ivan Ljubicic and Severin Luthi.
*All statistics come from the Grand Slam Media at the Australian Open