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Authorities say three people have died and at least one is missing after record levels of rainfall pounded New Zealand's largest city, causing widespread disruption.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins flew to Auckland on a military plane after a state of emergency was declared in the region.

"Our priority is to ensure that Aucklanders are safe, that they're housed and that they have access to the essential services that they need," Hipkins said.

He said the city was in for a big clean-up and that people should remain indoors if possible. He said a break in the weather could prove temporary, with more heavy rain forecast.

"This is an unprecedented event in recent memory," Hipkins said.

Friday was the wettest day ever recorded in Auckland, according to weather agencies, as the amount of rain that would typically fall over the entire summer hit in a single day. On Friday evening, more than 15 centimetres of rain fell in just three hours in some places.

The rain closed highways and poured into homes. Hundreds of people were stranded at Auckland Airport overnight after the airport stopped all flights and parts of the terminal were flooded.

Police said they found one man's body in a flooded culvert and another in a flooded car park.

They said one person was missing after being swept away by floodwaters while another remained unaccounted for after a landslide brought down a house in the suburb of Remuera.

Hipkins later said three people had been confirmed dead while at least one remained missing. He said power had been restored to most places, although about 3,500 homes remained without electricity.

Video posted online showed chest-deep water in some places.

Lawmaker Ricardo Menendez posted a video of water surging into houses. "We've just had to evacuate our home as the water was already rising rapidly and coming in aggressively," he tweeted.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand said crews had responded to more than 700 incidents across the region and staff had taken more than 2,000 emergency calls.

"We had every available career and volunteer crew on the road responding to the most serious events," said district manager Brad Mosby.

Mosby said crews had rescued 126 people who were trapped in houses or cars, or who had been involved in vehicle crashes.

Air New Zealand said it resumed domestic flights in and out of Auckland on Saturday afternoon, but wasn't yet sure when international flights would resume.

In a series of updates on Twitter, Auckland Airport said people were able to leave the airport early Saturday for their homes or accommodation after hundreds spent the night in the terminal.

The storm also caused an Elton John concert to be cancelled just before it was due to start Friday night. A second concert by John that was planned at the stadium on Saturday night was also scrapped.

About 40,000 people were expected to attend each concert at Mt Smart Stadium. Thousands were already at the venue Friday night when organisers decided to cancel not long before John was due to take the stage at 7.30pm.

Many concertgoers who had braved the conditions were frustrated the decision hadn't been made hours earlier.

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown defended criticism that his office did not communicate the seriousness of the situation well and held off on declaring an emergency until about 9.30pm on Friday.

He said the timing of the emergency declaration was guided by experts.

"We will review everything that took place," Brown said. "We've got to make sure we had the coordination, and the consultation with the public, correct."

© RAW 2023

Novak Djokovic will attempt to claim his 10th Australian Open crown after overcoming his own jitters and distractions, a divided Rod Laver Arena crowd and a frustrating exchange with the chair umpire to reach the Melbourne Park final.

Djokovic's father Srdjan was a conspicuous absentee from his player box as the Serb ace overcame an error-strewn first set to beat unseeded American Tommy Paul 7-5 6-1 6-2 to seal his place in the decider against No.3 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Djokovic will attempt to join Rafael Nadal on a record 22 grand slam titles by earning his 10th Open crown in his return to Melbourne Park after missing last year's tournament when deported for not being vaccinated against COVID-19.

The No.1 ranking is also up for grabs when he faces Tsitsipas, who lost in five sets to Djokovic in the 2021 French Open final.

"Winning grand slams and being the No.1 in the world are probably the two biggest peaks that you can climb as a professional tennis player, so let's see what happens," he said.

The world No.5 continued with the heavy left hamstring strapping that he has carried through his campaign but attention was instead on the vacant seat among the Djokovic camp.

Srdjan Djokovic decided to watch the semi-final from off site to avoid becoming a disruption following the emergence of a video of him posing at Melbourne Park with fans holding Russian flags.

But the issue of Russia fans reared its head anyway, with a man who had worn a 'Z' T-shirt at his quarter-final against Andrey Rublev again pictured in the front row, albeit in a different shirt.

The letter Z icon, which shows support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine, is among the banned symbols at Melbourne Park, along with Russian and Belarusian flags.

In the first set, Djokovic overcame some early stutters and break points to race away to a 3-0 lead, then a 5-1 advantage.

After spurning a set point, Djokovic squabbled with chair umpire Damien Dumusois for starting the serve clock as he was getting a towel from one of the ball kids.

With the crowd behind him, Paul broke Djokovic's serve on the next point to win the first of four consecutive games that got the set back on serve at 5-5.

But that seemingly spurred Djokovic into action as he rushed through the final two games to claim the set.

"I was really fortunate to hold my nerves towards the end of the first set," Djokovic said.

"That was the key. After that, I started swinging through the ball more.

"I'm just really pleased to be into another final."

He cupped his ear with his finger as he marched to his seat, then pointed to his fans and fist-pumped.

The nine-time champion then dropped just three games across the second and third sets to turn a tricky encounter into a straight-sets victory.

© AAP 2023

Novak Djokovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas will reprise their grand slam final rivalry in a high-stakes Australian Open title match after navigating through the semi-finals at Melbourne Park.

Djokovic eased past unseeded Tommy Paul 7-5 6-1 6-2 to advance to a record-extending 33rd grand slam final - and 10th in Melbourne - after Tsitsipas reached his second earlier on Friday with a hard-earned 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 victory over Karen Khachanov.

Both combatants will enter the final unbeaten in 2023, adding to Sunday night's blockbuster showdown when it's all on the line for Djokovic and Tsitsipas.

Chasing a perfect 10 from 10 in Australian Open finals, Djokovic can also equal Rafael Nadal's all-time record of 22 men's major singles titles, while Tsitsipas will usurp Carlos Alcaraz as world No.1 if he can avenge his 2021 French Open final loss to the Serb.

"It's all business on Sunday for both of us. Let the better player win," Djokovic said.

"Winning grand slams and being the No.1 in the world is probably the two biggest peaks that you can climb as a professional tennis player.

"So, yeah. Let's see what happens."

Tsitsipas said "these are the moments that I've been working hard for" after extending his summer winning streak to 10 matches with his Australian coach Mark Philippoussis watching on from the Greek star's box.

"To be able to play in finals like this, but finals that have a bigger meaning than just the final," he said.

"It's a grand slam final, I'm fighting for the No.1 spot, it's a childhood dream to be capturing the No.1 spot one day. I'm close.

"I'm happy that this opportunity comes here in Australia and not somewhere else because this is a place of significance."

It was a case of fourth time lucky for Tsitsipas, who fell at the semi-finals hurdle in three of his previous four appearances at what he regards as his 'home' major in Melbourne.

But it wasn't all smooth sailing for Tsitsipas, who was twice up a break in the first set against Khachanov before being pegged back and sent to a tiebreaker.

He was also called for foot faults several times during the first two sets as he repeatedly stepped across the centre service line.

The succession of calls clearly confused the 24-year-old before the chair umpire clarified what the issue was.

Tsitsipas wasted two match points against the 18th seed during the third set before securing his sixth - and most important - win in as many career meetings with Khachanov.

"I thought how hard I've worked to get to this position and it takes a little bit more," Tsitsipas said after the three-hour, 21-minute battle.

"I wasn't able to deliver that on the third set.

"I was extremely close to getting it, but it's one of those moments that if you stick around and dedicate yourself even more and if you concentrate on these important moments even more, it pays off quite well."

Tsitsipas said he was inspired by Marcos Baghdatis' run to the 2006 Australian Open final - which he lost to Roger Federer - drawing on the Cypriot cult hero's fighting qualities.

"Unfortunately it didn't go his way but he's in our hearts and I always consider him one of my favourites," Tsitsipas said.

"I feel blessed for the fact that I'm able to play tennis at this level.

"I've been wanting for many years now to put Greek tennis on the map, and me and Maria (Sakkari) have done an incredible job, I think."

Tsitsipas is relishing a shot at revenge against Djokovic after relinquishing a two-set lead against the former world No.1 in his only previous grand slam final in Paris.

"I'm playing great tennis. I'm enjoying myself. I just see no downside or negativity in what I'm trying to do out there," Tsitsipas said.

"Even if it doesn't work, I'm very optimistic and positive about any outcome, any opponent that I have to face."

© AAP 2023