Tennis: Novak Djokovic crushes Lucas Pouille to make 2019 Australian Open final

Novak Djokovic was impressed with his work during his win. Photo / Getty

Novak Djokovic sent the tennis world wild when he trampled all over Lucas Pouille in their Australian Open semifinal to book a place in Sunday night's decider.

The Serbian reached an astonishing level to bully Pouille all night in his 6-0 6-2 6-2 win. He took just 83 minutes to secure his victory as the Frenchman was helpless to put even the slightest dent in the World No. 1's ruthless rampage.

The only other time this tournament we've seen someone play to a similar standard as Djokovic on the men's side was on Thursday night when Rafael Nadal dismantled Stefanos Tsitsipas — so it's fitting the two veterans will square off in the final.

Djokovic made the perfect start to the match, playing flawless tennis as he went ahead 3-0 in the first set. Pouille double faulted to give up a break while his opponent had no troubles on serve to begin the match.

The night only got worse for the Frenchman when Djokovic broke again to race to a 4-0 lead before he wasted no time at all holding again to make it 5-0 in just 18 minutes.

It wasn't until late in the sixth game that Djokovic finally made an unforced error but that was of little consolation to Pouille, who lost the first set 6-0 in 23 minutes.

Pouille didn't play too badly, but Djokovic was just that good.

The 24-year-old finally got on the board when he held his first service game of the second set but another double fault saw him give away a break and slump to a 2-1 deficit.

"The big problem when you play someone like Novak is when he gets up a set and a break, he goes full steam ahead," Channel 9 commentator Jim Courier said.

"He strangles you. He gets more aggressive once he is in the lead. This is gorgeous from Novak, but he has another gear he can shift into if he gets comfortable and confident in this set."

Djokovic maintained the rage, surging to 5-2 before closing things out for a two-sets-to-love lead.

At that point in the match the Serbian had hit 19 winners and made just two unforced errors, which stunned legend and Channel 9 commentator Todd Woodbridge.

"Total winners in the first two sets — 19 to just two unforced errors. We call that a plus 17. I don't think I've ever seen that in the men's professional game, a plus to that degree," Woodbridge said.

"Phenomenal. We saw phenomenal last night from Rafael Nadal, and we are seeing it again tonight from the world No. 1."

Woodbridge later said the stats Djokovic dished up were "out of this world".

If Pouille was hoping for a let-up in the third set he would have been disappointed. Djokovic went up 2-1 when he held to love for the fifth time in the match. In no time at all, the six-time champion had extended that lead to 5-2 before he broke again to seal the match..