Defending champion Roger Federer yesterday strolled into the Australian Open final in a bitter-sweet win after Chung Hyeon retired injured in their semi-final.
The Swiss star was leading 6-1, 5-2 when the South Korean called it quits with foot blisters and next faces Marin Cilic in tomorrow’s final.
Chung, the first South Korean man or woman to play in a Grand Slam semi-final, was treated in a medical timeout for the foot problem two games earlier, but it came as a big surprise when the 21-year-old walked to the net at 30-30 and trailing 2-5 after 1 hour, 2 minutes in the second set to concede defeat.
Photo: EPA
It put Federer into his seventh Australian Open final as he chases his sixth Melbourne title and 20th Grand Slam victory.
Federer leads 2014 US Open champion Cilic 8-1 in their meetings.
The Swiss maestro now has a 30-13 win-loss record in Grand Slam semi-finals and has yet to drop a set at this year’s Australian Open.
“You couldn’t tell until the end,” Federer said of Chung’s injury problems. “That’s probably why a lot of people are stunned [he retired].”
It was a muted semi-final with the Rod Laver Arena retractable roof closed for rain further improving Federer’s chances given his indoor record.
He broke Chung’s opening service and twice more to romp away with the first set in just 33 minutes as the South Korean made a flurry of errors.
It got no better in the second set with Federer again breaking in the fourth game before the trainer was called on to the court to treat Chung for his blisters.
Chung only lasted a bit more than two games before pulling out to stunned silence.
“In the second set I felt he was starting to get a bit slower, fighting with a blister,” Federer said. “I’ve played with blisters in the past a lot, and it hurts a lot, and at one point it is just too much and you can’t take it anymore. That’s when you realize there is no way you can come back and you make things really worse, it is better to stop. That’s why this feels bitter-sweet.”
In the women’s doubles final, fifth seeds Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic were crowned Grand Slam champions for the first time.
The Hungarian-French pairing battled past second-seeded Russians Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 6-4, 6-3 at Rod Laver Arena.
“It’s an incredible feeling, I was in tears,” an emotional Babos said.
“It’s amazing to play with you,” she added of Mladenovic.
It was their first Grand Slam title after going close at Wimbledon in 2014, when they made the final, but lost.
In the girls’ singles semi-finals, Taiwanese second seed Liang En rallied to edge Elisabetta Cocciaretto of Italy 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) and set up a final against Clara Burel of France today at Margaret Court Arena.
In the boys’ singles semi-finals, Taiwanese sixth seed Tseng Chun-hsin set up a final against seventh seed Sebatian Korda of the US today at Rod Laver Arena when he defeated Britain’s Aidan Mchugh 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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