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"I have more confidence, I feel better," says Novak Djokovic ahead of Roger Federer rematch.
Roger Federer knows all about tie breakers turned heart breakers.

A fierce Federer fought off seven match points, including denying four match points in the tie breaker, to ignite a miraculous 6-3, 2-6, 2-6, 7-6(8), 6-3 AO comeback win over 100th-ranked Tennys Sandgren.

More: Federer's Match-Points Miracle

Federer's reward for a titantic comeback is an Australian Open semifinal clash vs. defending champion Novak Djokovic. The pair have combined to claim 13 of the last 16 Australian Open crowns.

Seven-time AO champion Djokovic dispensed a gut-wrenching defeat to Federer and Fed fans all over the world last July. 

A defiant Djokovic denied two championship points in the final set fighting off Federer, 7-6 (5), 1-6, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 13-12 (3) to successfully defend his Wimbledon title in The Championships' longest final—and first men’s major final decided in a fifth-set tie breaker.

Djokovic is 26-23 lifetime vs. Federer and knows major margins can be miniscule when they face off.

"Wimbledon last year, he had two match points, he was one shot away from winning that match," Djokovic said after sweeping Milos Raonic in the quarterfinals. "It's not like I've been dominating the matchups. I've had success against him, as you said, in Grand Slams in particular.

"But Roger is Roger. You know that he's always going to play on such a high level, regardless of the surface. He loves to play these kind of matches, big rivalries, semis, finals of Grand Slams."

The 20-time Grand Slam king, who took a medical timeout for treatment of a groin issue vs. Sandgren, said he believes he should be physically fine for his rematch with personal nemesis Djokovic.

"I don't know if you can call it an injury," Federer said of his groin issue. "It's just pain and problems. I need to figure it out now. But as it's not like in 18 hours, like you got a third round to play, semifinals, you have an extra day, adrenaline, there's a lot of things.

"Two good nights of sleep, doctors, physios. Hopefully we'll find out that it's actually nothing bad."

The 38-year-old Swiss has not defeated Djokovic in a Grand Slam match since scoring a four-set win in the 2012 Wimbledon semifinals.

Djokovic aims to impose his advantage on the Grand Slam court he's come to regard as his own turf.

"What he did today was really amazing. I mean, to come back and save seven match points at his age," Djokovic said. "I mean, he's still playing such a great tennis and proving that he deserves to be up there. He's a great fighter. Obviously I have lots of respect for him. But I've been feeling well on the court.

"I think if I continue playing the way I was throughout the tournament here and also ATP Cup, I've been building I think as the time passes by, in every match, I have more confidence, I feel better. In the end of the day, this is my favorite court, I mean, the court where I had the most success in my career. Hopefully things can come together for me in a positive way on Thursday and I can have a chance to win."

Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve

"I could just as easily be in the semis right now, but I'm not," said Tennys Sandgren.
Tennys Sandgren saw seven match points slip from his grip as Roger Federer pulled off one of the most miraculous comebacks of his career.

The 38-year-old Swiss, who took a medical timeout for a groin issue earlier in the match, fought off seven match points in a stirring 6-3, 2-6, 2-6, 7-6(8), 6-3 triumph.

More: Federer's Match-Point Miracle

"I mean, I could just as easily be in the semis right now, but I'm not," Sandgren said afterward. "So back to the drawing board."

The 100th-ranked Sandgren, who was bidding to become the lowest-ranked man to reach the AO semifinals since a 114th-ranked Patrick McEnroe contested the final four in 1991, was philosophical in the face of a gut-wrenching defeat.

Sandgren conceded he could have been a bit more aggressive, but credited Federer for "fantastic" play under match-point pressure.

"I wanted to play out the point and see if he would give me a look, give me something to play with," Sandgren said. "I guess I only had one on my serve. I was doing that, and he was playing the points fantastic. He kept the ball deep and kept pressure with his backhand. Didn't seem like, especially during the second and third set, that wasn't the case.

"If I played a few, like three, four, five deep shots to his backhand, I'd get a look. I wasn't getting a look in those rallies. He was playing them great. You play it as it comes. I thought I did that. I'm sure I could have played them better, at least some of the moments better. But I didn't, so here I am."

Sandgren, who played three hours, 37 minutes in his fourth-round win over 12th-seeded Fabio Fognini, said he felt Federer lift his level as the fourth-set progressed.

"I thought once he kind of could see the finish line being a real thing, I thought his level picked up, as my level was, like, maybe decreasing a little bit," Sandgren said. "I did think he picked his level up a little bit in the fifth set, which is to be expected.

"When you survive that many times, you can't give a good player, let alone maybe the best player ever, that many chances to come back. They're going to find their game and start playing well. That seemed to me what happened."

Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve