A fired up Roger Federer has booked his 14th Australian Open semi-final appearance, the defending champion defeating Czech Tomas Berdych in straight sets.
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The Czech, seeded 19 and a two-time semi-finalist in Melbourne, put away the 25th seeded Italian 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 in 2hr 8min on Margaret Court Arena.
Wounded 12-time Grand Slam victor Novak Djokovic was sent tumbling out of the Australian Open by Korean giant-killer Chung Hyeon Monday, but ice-cool Roger Federer roared into the quarterfinals.
The 36-year-old is bidding to win his 20th Grand Slam title and is the oldest man to reach the semi-finals in Australia since Ken Rosewall (42 years) in 1977. However, Federer showed his class as he raced back, saving multiple set points, to level the match up and send the first set to a tiebreak.
The Czech timed the ball superbly for the majority of the opening set, but Federer broke back with an exquisite backhand victor after being left disgruntled when a Hawk-Eye replay failed to appear on the screen and his challenge was unsuccessful.
Federer was told by the umpire Murphy that the serve was in.
“Are you comfortable with this?” he said, as the crowd booed. Are you okay with it?
Federer’s light mood matched the sunny conditions and he was even reduced to giggles during one point late in the second set when he miss-hit a forehand high into the air, then defended three consecutive Fucsovics smashes to win a freakish rally.
And he confessed in his post-match interview that he new the ball was actually good and that he just used the incident to get himself motivated. I’m growing. I think I’m handling myself pretty well right now.
Federer had to overcome a shaky start, dropping his opening service game and uncharacteristically questioning chair umpire Fergus Murphy because of a technological fault.
“I do believe in some ways it’s going to open some draws, but at the same time it’s going to be some really tough ones from the get-go, which I think is a good thing”.
“I was under pressure”. Federer roared “Come on!”, Berdych seemed to grieve in silence.
In this EPA photo taken on January 24, 2018, South Korean tennis player Chung Hyeon celebrates after defeating the United States’ Tennys Sandgren in their quarterfinal match at the Australian Open in Melbourne, Australia.
“When I played my best, I was able to beat him. That’s not what happened today”.
Federer praised Chung’s movement, comparing it to Djokovic’s, which is the ultimate compliment. “I thought he played an incredible match against Novak”.
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Two break points came and went for Federer – one after a Federer challenge couldn’t be reviewed because the technology didn’t work.
