Forget Andy Murray, taking care of old foe Roger Federer is all Novak Djokovic is worried about.
Djokovic and Federer are set for the 45th episode of their long-running series after sweeping into the Australian Open semi-finals at Melbourne Park.
But despite winning their past three grand slam encounters to square the ledger at 22 wins each, Djokovic knows only his finest tennis will be good enough on Thursday night to vault him into a sixth Open final.
"Roger is playing really terrific tennis in last two years," said the world No.1 and five-times Open champion.
"We played two grand slam finals last year. I know very well how good he plays, especially in the later stages of a major event.
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"He always makes you play your best. My best is what is going to be necessary to win against him.
"Hopefully I'll be able to deliver."
While he's dominated Murray in three Australian Open finals, Djokovic credits his decade-long rivalries with Federer and Rafael Nadal, whom the Serb leads 24-23 overall, for transforming him into a 10-times major winner.
"Honestly, I played so many times against both of these guys. At one stage, I lost count of how many times I played," Djokovic said.
"I've played these guys so many different occasions. I've battled them for biggest title in sport.
"These two guys made me the player also I am today. These rivalries have allowed me to grow and to evolve and to get strong and tough and understand what it takes to be on the level that they are on.
"I mean, they've been dominating the tennis for many years before Murray and myself came along.
"It took a while to get in the mix. Took a lot of matches to actually level the score head-to-head against both guys.
"It keeps going."
