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TENNIS

Federer sweeps into Melbourne semifinal

Defending champion Roger Federer swept into a record 14th Australian Open semifinal with an immaculate straight sets win over long-time rival Tomas Berdych on Wednesday.

Published: 24 January 2018 12:46 CET
Federer sweeps into Melbourne semifinal
Photo: Paul Crock/AFP
The second seed cruised to a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3, 6-4 win in 2hr 14min on Rod Laver Arena and will face unseeded South Korean Chung Hyeon on Friday for a place in the final.
   
The 19-time Grand Slam champion, who hasn't lost in five matches against Berdych in Melbourne, will play in his 43rd Grand Slam semi-final, a record for the post-1968 Open Era.
   
The Swiss legend has yet to face Chung, who has got past six-time champion Novak Djokovic and world No.4 Alexander Zverev to get to the last four.
   
Federer's latest victory was his 92nd in 105 matches in Melbourne to make the Australian Open his most successful Grand Slam in terms of matches won along with Wimbledon.
   
“I'm happy I got out of the first set. It ended up being the key of the match,” Federer said on court.
   
“Tomas played well in the first couple of sets especially. I think in the third set he dropped a little bit.
   
“It was tough the first set. Could have gone either way. He deserved it. I stole that one a little bit.”
   
Federer has now won 14 out of 14 quarterfinals in Melbourne and has yet to drop a set in this tournament.
   
Looking ahead to his semifinal opponent Chung, Federer said: “He's incredibly impressive in his movement, he reminds me a lot of Novak the way he is able to slide forehand and backhand and use the hardcourt as a claycourt.
   
“He gets balls back and stays aggressive in defence, so I'm really excited to be playing him, he's got nothing to lose, I will tell myself the same and we'll see what happens.”
   
Signature backhand
   
Federer was broken in his opening service game and fell behind 2-5 before he broke back with a backhand in the ninth game to send the first set into a tiebreaker.
   
He put the foot down and careered to five set points before taking the tiebreaker with an audacious drop shot.
   
He continued to put the squeeze on the Czech and broke him in the eighth game and served out for a two sets to love lead after 90 minutes.
   
Both players exchanged breaks early in the third set before Federer reeled off a signature backhand winner to break again in the fifth game.
   
He consummately served out for the match for his 20th win in 26 meetings with Berdych.
   
Federer is coming off an extraordinary 2017, when he won a fifth Australian Open title and a record eighth at Wimbledon, after returning from an injury lay-off.
   
The 36-year-old is bidding to win his 20th Grand Slam title and is the oldest man to reach the semifinals in Australia since Ken Rosewall (42 years) in 1977.
   
It was in Melbourne a year ago where he lit the fuse on his late-life tennis renaissance, beating Berdych, Kei Nishikori, Mischa Zverev and Stan Wawrinka before downing great rival Rafael Nadal in a five-set final classic.

ROGER FEDERER

Is this the end of the road for Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer?

Roger Federer is talking optimistically about returning to his "highest level" after knee surgery, but does tennis have to start adjusting to a future without the Swiss star?

Published: 11 June 2020 16:22 CEST
Is this the end of the road for Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer?
Is it the end of the line for Roger? Photo: Martin BUREAU / AFP

The 20-time Grand Slam winner announced on Wednesday that he would be sidelined until 2021 after his second operation in a matter of months.

Federer remains upbeat, tweeting: “I plan to take the necessary time to be 100 percent ready to play at my highest level.”

In some ways 2020 is a good season to miss after the coronavirus ravaged the tennis schedule. Writing Federer off in the past has proved dangerous.

He returned from a six-month injury lay-off to claim the Australian Open in 2017, winning his eighth Wimbledon crown later that year.

But he will be 40 in 2021 and is now heading into uncharted territory.

Despite his groaning trophy cabinet, there are two factors that will motivate Federer to keep going — the risk of losing his grip on the men's Grand Slam title record and a missing Olympics singles gold medal.

Rafael Nadal has 19 majors, just one shy of Federer's mark and Djokovic has 17.

Spain's Nadal will be fancied to draw level with Federer at the French Open, rescheduled for September, while few would bet against Djokovic winning in New York weeks earlier.

In April, Federer said he was “devastated” when Wimbledon was cancelled for the first time since World War II. Last year he fell agonisingly short at the All England Club, failing to convert two championship points on his own serve against Djokovic.

The Wimbledon grass probably remains his best chance of adding to his Grand Slam collection — he has not won the US Open since 2008 and his only title at Roland Garros came in 2009.

Even though Federer has slipped from the very pinnacle of the game, he is still a major threat to Nadal and Djokovic.

'Golden' ambitions

Last year, the world number four had a 53-10 win-loss record and he reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open in January in his only tournament this year.

Federer, who is still six ATP titles short of Jimmy Connors' all-time record of 109, has one glaring omission from his CV — the Olympic title.

The Swiss won doubles gold in Beijing in 2008 with compatriot Stan Wawrinka but lost in the singles final to Andy Murray in London four years later.

The postponed Tokyo Games will almost certainly be Federer's last opportunity to complete a career “golden” Grand Slam — he will turn 40 on the day of the closing ceremony next year.

Tennis will feel the loss of the elegant Federer keenly when he walks off the court for the last time.

Djokovic and Nadal have been the dominant forces in recent years but the Swiss remains the biggest draw and last month topped Forbes' list of the world's highest-earning athletes.

His last appearance on court was in front of nearly 52,000 fans — touted by organisers as a world record for tennis — at a charity match against Nadal in Cape Town in February.

Federer is nearly always the crowd favourite wherever he plays and has proved a perfect ambassador for the sport since he won his first Grand Slam title in 2003.

He certainly expects to be back and competitive next year.

“I will be missing my fans and the tour dearly but I will look forward to seeing everyone back on tour at the start of the 2021 season,” he tweeted.

The avalanche of support from his adoring fans showed they would miss him too, but they will have to get used to a time when he is gone for good.

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