Roger Federer eased past Tomas Berdych to reach his 14th Australian Open Semi-Final after a 7-6(1) 6-3 6-4 victory.
Despite the result, it was Berdych who had the more positive start as he used his aggressive forehand for a 3-0 lead at the start of the opening set. The record breaking Swiss maestro was finding it tough to have some rhythm on serve and had to adjust to an in-form Berdych. However just as the Czech Republican was dominating play he came across a stumbling block as he couldn’t serve the set out. His mental demons against the big players came back to once again haunt him as the set was level at 5-5. Despite both men’s arguments over the challenge system, they kept their cool on serve as a first set tiebreak loomed. Some moments of genius from Federer earned him the set after winning the tiebreak, 7-1.
The next two sets were less of a struggle for the 19 time grand slam champion as he started to dominate the match. The second seed played with much more freedom and continued to play aggressively with the backhand. Despite a couple of close games, Federer survived and as a result broke in the eighth game for a 5-3 lead. Last year’s champion wrapped up the second set in 35 minutes.
After Berdych received an off court evaluation, Federer continued his dominance in the third set as he went on the front foot. Despite the Czech Republican’s impressive net game he was broken twice in the third set as Federer eased to into his 14th Australian Open Semi-Final.
The history making Swiss hit 15 aces as he dominated Berdych mentally and tactically as he eased into yet another grand slam Semi-Final and looks set to create more history. As for the Czech Republican he still cannot break down a top 10 player on the big occasion despite his very good form throughout the tournament.
Federer will now play South Korea’s Hyeon Chung in the Semi-Finals and here is what he had to say about his South Korean opponent, “I’ve never played Chung. Tennis will always create new names and stars. We need them. To beat Novak on this court is particularly difficult.”
Here is the full interview with the Swiss maestro:
“It’s great to see new names on the scene… He’s incredibly impressive in his movement. Reminds me a lot of Novak (Djokovic).”
– @RogerFederer on his SF opponent, Hyeon #Chung :sunglasses:#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/5EkP2KmS4B
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) 24 January 2018
Roger Federer looks to reach is 30th grand slam final on Friday.
