Novak Djokovic outlasts Stan Wawrinka to reach Australian Open final

Novak Djokovic battled to a five- set win over defending champion Stan Wawrinka to reach his fifth Australian Open final.

The world No. 1 Djokovic dismissed the fourth-seeded Wawrinka 7-6 (7-1), 3-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 on Friday.

Djokovic and Wawrinka met for the third year in a row at Melbourne Park. Two years ago, Djokovic denied Wawrinka 12-10 in the fifth set of a fourth-round clash, but last year the Swiss got his revenge with a 9-7 fifth-set victory in the quarterfinals.

Wawrinka captured his first Grand Slam title here a year ago by stunning Rafael Nadal in the final.

Djokovic will meet Andy Murray in Sunday's final. Murray advanced to his fourth final in the year's first major with Thursday's 6-7 (6-8), 6-0, 6-3, 7-5 semifinal victory over seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych.

[SportsNetwork.com]