Australian Open: Stanislas Wawrinka defeats defending champion Novak Djokovic

Stanislas Wawrinka survived an epic match to end the three-year reign of Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic with a memorable quarter-final victory. The Swiss player, seeded eighth, won 2-6 6-4 6-2 3-6 9-7 to set up a semi-final match against Tomas Berdych. Wawrinka gained revenge for an epic five-set defeat by Djokovic in the Australian Open fourth round last year. It was the first defeat for Djokovic under new coach Boris Becker and the result stops a winning streak of 28 matches in the ATP Tour. "He's an amazing champion, he never gives up. I'm really, really happy," said Wawrinka. "I was really focused point after point. I had to stay aggressive, not to give up. I was tired, I was cramping a bit, I was nervous too. But now I'm going to have an ice bath for a very long time." Djokovic said after the match: "He deserved this win. I congratulate him absolutely. There is nothing I can say. You know, I gave it my best. I gave it all. I tried to come out as the winner. I tried to fight until the last point as I did in a very similar match we did last year in the fourth round, same court, but it wasn't to be this time." Wawrinka won the match after exactly four hours, reaching his second major semi-final. The Swiss player lost 14 matches in a row against Djokovic over the last eight years. In Wednesday's quarter-finals, world number one Rafael Nadal will face Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov while Britain's Andy Murray plays Roger Federer for a place in the last four. At this point Stanislas Wawrinka is 5/1 to win the tournament at Bet365 while top favourite Rafael Nadal is 5/6 to retain the trophy.