A round of upsets continued as Novak Djokovic’s hold on the Australian Open title was finally unhinged by the Swiss eighth seed Stanislas Wawrinka in a five-set epic lasting exactly four hours. Reigniting their passion for matches that head deep into the Melbourne night, it was Wawrinka who this time emerged victorious, downing the three-time defending champion 9-7 in the fifth set.

The match began slightly different to the way it ended with Djokovic exploding out of the blocks and breaking Wawrinka twice in the first set to take it 6-2 in just 31 minutes. What looked like becoming a routine straight-sets victory was turned on its head as the Swiss clawed back into the contest. At times he outhit and outlasted Djokovic in quality baseline rallies. His plan to hit behind the Serbian world No. 2 seemed fairly simple, but it was Wawrinka’s execution that won him the second set 6-4 and eventually the match.

Even with Djokovic’s immaculate record at Melbourne Park and his form of the last 12 months, many people allowed the possibility of his opponent taking a set. But they were forced to consider the possibility that he might not even make it past the quarterfinal after Wawrinka converted two out of two break points to seal the third 6-2. The man who was recognized as the everlasting wall suddenly developed a crack as Wawrinka used his backhand cross-court to trouble his higher ranked opponent.

Novak has been the one constant of the men’s draw at the Australian Open in the past four years. This meant that no one actually considered that Wawrinka would beat Djokovic in four. If anyone possessed the belief that they could come back from a two sets to one deficit, it was Djokovic.

And so it proved as the Serb needed to convert only one break point to take the match to a decider where he would undoubtedly have the upper hand. They’d been down this road before. In fact, they’d been down this road most recently in September at the US Open and again at last year’s Australian Open with Djokovic being the victor on both occasions. In a fifth set that reflected similar twists and turns to that of a rollercoaster, the difference between the two players was the discipline shown by the Swiss.

Although there was little between them during the whole match, Djokovic felt as if Wawrinka’s serve and his play on big points won him the match.

“He served extremely well from the beginning to the end,” a deflated Djokovic said.  “Every time he was in trouble, he was coming up with big serves. He took his opportunities. He deserved this win today.”

Holding a mental edge over Wawrinka heading into the fifth, Djokovic believed it was his uncharacteristically error-riddled match that undid him. “I started great. I made a break on 1-1 in the fifth and then I played a poor game with four forehand errors,” he said.

It was a philosophical Djokovic who had to stare at the end of his unbeaten streak directly in the face. “Of course I'm disappointed at this stage. But tomorrow is a new day. I have to accept the facts that you can't win all the matches that you play,” he said. “One thing I can be proud of is that I gave my best. It wasn't enough. But I can know that I fought all the way through and laid my heart out there.”

Despite not having beaten the world No. 2 since 2006 and never at a major, the overjoyed eighth seed had believed he could win the match.

“It's always tough, especially against Novak. You know that he's going to play even better. I cannot just let the match go,” an exhausted Wawrinka said. “I don't want to lose every time in five sets against Novak. I had to find solutions. I had to fight within myself to fight against him and try to keep my line during the game.”

Wawrinka was extremely pleased with how he mentally stayed in the match in the fifth set. “I trust myself when I go on court. I know that I can beat those players. I try everything to beat them. Even when I lose, I go back to practice to try to improve.”

And he credited his win to his game plan. “My game plan meant being really aggressive, (and trying to) serve better. That's what I did. That's why I won the match tonight.”

Earlier in the day on Rod Laver Arena, Tomas Berdych reached the first Australian Open semifinal of his career after a convincing 6-1 6-4 2-6 6-4 win over David Ferrer. Berdych had all the answers as he used his baseline game to outflank the Spaniard. He pinpointed Ferrer’s weaknesses on hard courts and completely exploited them in a match that lasted just over three hours.

The match wasn’t as close as the score indicates, for Berdych never looked in real trouble against the third-seeded Ferrer. With both players guilty of a high unforced-error rate, Berdych took a commanding position inside the baseline while taking advantage of the short ball that is frequently offered by Ferrer in rallies. Often he was his own worst enemy, but Berdych managed to gain control and win the points that mattered.

Although Berdych made just over 50% of first serves, he wasn’t forced to serve all that well as he quashed Ferrer’s baseline style with his all-court game. He rushed Ferrer which threw off the Spaniard’s rhythm, and this proved fruitful as he won 18 of his 28 visits to the net. The normally consistent Ferrer was let down in his execution as he made a flurry of uncharacteristic unforced errors, which told the story in the end.

In his mostly empty post-match press conference, Ferrer admitted to being fatigued during the match. “I wasn’t so good the first and part of the second set. I was a little bit tired,” Ferrer said.

But he admitted that Berdych played well on the points that mattered. “In important moments, Tomas served very well, and he did good winners.”

“I made a plan, what I'm going to do, what I'm going to try to do through the match,” remarked a very pleased Berdych. “If this is going to work, I'm going to stick with the plan, it might be the right one. For the second time in a row (against Ferrer), it was the right one. But it definitely was not an easy one.”

Despite winning the match, Berdych lamented the opportunities he gave Ferrer in the third set. “It was not my optimal game. But you know, there was a one point where I missed quite an easy volley, and then I made a double fault. There was a break from that. David is a big fighter,” Berdych said.  “He will take every single small chance that he's going to get. That's what he did,”

But Berdych was pleased to close the door in the fourth set. “Really, it counts in the end, I won three sets. That's it.”

On Thursday, he will face Wawrinka with a berth in the Australian Open final at stake.  Neither man ever has reached a final at a hard-court major, and Wawrinka will be seeking his first final at any major.