Melbourne, January 25:

Top-ranked Roger Federer’s streak of 10 straight Grand Slam finals came to an abrupt end when he lost to No 3 Novak Djokovic 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (5) in the Australian Open semi-finals today.

Federer, who had been seeking his third consecutive title here, didn’t look like the same player who has won 13 majors. Djokovic had a lot to do with that, hitting 13 aces and 50 winners.

Djokovic will now face unseeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who beat No 2 Rafael Nadal in the other semi-finals, in Sunday’s final. In the women’s final on Saturday another Serbian, fourth-seeded Ana Ivanovic, will meet No 5 Maria Sharapova.

Other than a twitchy third-round victory over Janko Tipsarevic that went to 10-8 in the fifth set, Federer has been in good form. But he fell to his first straight sets loss in a Grand Slam tournament since a third round loss at the 2004 French Open.

Despite a 1-5 record against Federer that included a loss in the US Open final in September, Djokovic was far from intimidated, even after getting broken in the first set.

Federer pulled ahead at 5-3 only to be stunned as Djokovic ran off the last four games. Djokovic broke him to pull ahead at 3-1

in the second set. He finished off the game by getting to a drop shot on the dead run and flicking a backhand past Federer that kissed the line. He broke again to pull ahead at 5-1.

Serving for the set, Djokovic looked a little tight, and Federer took advantage to break. He held to make it 5-3, the divided crowd erupted into dueling chants of “Let’s go Roger, let’s go” and “No-vak, No-vak.” Federer forced deuce as Djokovic served again for the set.

Known for his tendency to bounce the ball up to two dozen times before serving, the Serbian star got a time delay warning. Instead of being shaken, Djokovic was fired up. He ripped

a forehand winner, then blasted an ace.

The two men combined to fend off seven break points early in the third set. From 3-3, the two players combined for five straight winners, the last a good serve by Djokovic that set up match point. Federer netted a forehand to finish the game in 2 hours and 48 minutes.