Defending champion Roger Federer demolished fellow Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka to reach his eighth straight Australian Open semi-final yesterday, setting up a grandstand clash with Novak Djokovic.
Women’s top seed Caroline Wozniacki survived a thrilling quarter-final with tenacious Italian Francesca Schiavone and will now need to beat Li Na, who ratcheted up Chinese hopes of a first Grand Slam singles title.
Federer, who can become only the second man to win five Australian Opens after Roy Emerson (six), showed no mercy against close friend Wawrinka as he took him apart 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 in just one hour, 47 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.
Photo: EPA
“I definitely needed a good performance and I’ve obviously played Stan many times in practice and in matches and there were no real secrets out there for either of us,” Federer said.
Federer and Wawrinka are known for a joyous celebration after their doubles gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but the pair were poles apart as the 16-time Grand Slam winner coolly dispatched his frustrated friend.
Wawrinka, who had not been beaten this year and whipped Andy Roddick in the quarters, angrily smashed his racquet when he was broken for the fifth time, in the third set, as Federer cantered to victory.
Federer, 29, can equal Andre Agassi’s record 46 hard-court titles and derail top seed Rafael Nadal’s “Rafa Slam,” a non-calendar year Grand Slam which would unite all four major trophies for the first time since 1969.
However, he will have his work cut out against Djokovic, who came out on top of their last Melbourne semi-final in 2008 and went on to win his lone Grand Slam title.
The 23-year-old third seed was immense in yesterday’s evening match as he saw off a strong second-set challenge from Czech world No. 6 Tomas Berdych 6-1, 7-6 (7/5), 6-1, to reach his third Grand Slam semi in the past year.
“If I continue playing like this, and I think I am playing well, then I have a good chance. But I have Federer and we all know he’s the best player ever so it’s going to be very tough,” Djokovic said.
Meanwhile, Wozniacki overcame a tiring Francesca Schiavone 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the semi-finals, a result which also ensures she stays as No. 1 when the new rankings are published next week.
Wozniacki clawed her way back from losing the first set against Schiavone, who had battled through a Grand Slam record four hour, 44 minute epic with Svetlana Kuznetsova on Sunday, to clinch victory on a Hawkeye challenge.
“My game is to win. If sometimes I have to run the balls down, I can do that. If sometimes I need to step it up, I try to do that,” Wozniacki said. “I can still improve in many areas, but I’m on the right track.”
In tomorrow’s semis, Wozniacki will meet Li Na, who lifted Chinese hopes to fever pitch after she weathered an early storm from Germany’s Andrea Petkovic to reach her second straight Australian Open semi-final.
A day after compatriot Peng Shuai fell by the wayside, Li weathered a blistering start by Petkovic in both sets to wrap it up 6-2, 6-4 in 80 minutes.
Li said she had no intention of repeating last year’s disappointment, when she was bundled out of the last four by eventual winner Serena Williams, who is out this year with a foot injury.
“I played really well in Sydney and I hope I can do better here this year. I don’t want to lose in the semis again,” Li said.
A maiden Grand Slam singles title would be considered a huge boost to tennis in China, where the sport has been growing exponentially after it hosted a series of top tournaments and produced its first competitive players.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but