WORLD number one Roger Federer reached his 23rd consecutive grand slam semifinal after overcoming his recent tormentor Nikolay Davydenko yesterday.

The Swiss maestro recovered emphatically from losing the opening set, after which he reeled off 13 consecutive games to form the foundation of his 2-6 6-3 6-0 7-5 victory.

Federer, who is bidding for his fourth title at Melbourne Park, will play Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the last four after the Frenchman won his repeat of the 2008 final against Novak Djokovic 7-6 (10/8) 6-7 (5/7) 1-6 6-3 6-1 in three hours and 52 minutes.

Davydenko had beaten Federer in their previous two meetings and last week declared the top players were scared of him.

The 28-year-old Russian looked like backing up those confident words early on as he rolled to the first set with two breaks of serve in 34 minutes.

Federer took a toilet break at the end of the set but it did not slow Davydenko’s momentum as he grabbed another break and was 15-40 ahead on Federer’s serve.

But the Swiss responded in the style of a champion to hold serve and begin a run of 13 consecutive games that sucked the life out of Davydenko’s challenge.

‘‘I was in a tough situation – I knew I wasn’t looking very good,’’ said Federer.

‘‘But that’s the beauty of best-of-five-sets. I wasn’t panicking even though I maybe would have lost the second set had I lost another point at that stage.

‘‘I just relaxed and thought if his level drops just a little bit the whole thing might change for the better and it did.

‘‘I couldn’t believe the way it changed. I’m happy the way I was able to go on an incredible run.’’ Federer admitted his relief at continuing his remarkable run of major semi-final appearances that dates back to his third-round defeat by Gustavo Kuerten at the 2004 French Open.

The 28-year-old revealed he had been concerned his run may end when he saw the draw.

‘‘It’s incredible looking back on how many years it is now I’m still able to deliver at grand-slam play, especially this year,’’ he said.

‘‘I think looking at the draw with (Lleyton) Hewitt in the fourth round and Davydenko in the quarters, for some reason I was just a bit worried I was not going to make it into the semis.

“But now I’ve been able to do that and it’s amazing, definitely one of the most incredible things I have achieved in my career.’’