Upstart can upset the applecart in dramatic fashion at the Open

IT IS fair bet that few would have picked South Korean Chung Hyeon to be the player to break the dominance Roger Federer and the other members of the “Big Four” have had at the Australian Open over the last 13 years.

The 21-year-old has enjoyed an amazing run over the last two weeks and if he can get past Federer in today’s semifinal, it would ensure a final without the Swiss, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray or Rafael Nadal for the first time since 2005.

In fact, barring 2014 when Stan Wawrinka won the title, no player apart from the quartet has even been involved in the men’s final at Melbourne Park since 2008.

With Marin Cilic and Kyle Edmund lining up in the other semifinal, that particular dominance is already destined to be broken and Chung denying Federer a place in his 30th Grand Slam final remains a huge “if”.

Defending his title as second seed, the 19-times Grand Slam has yet to give up a set as he has moved through the draw on his mission to match Djokovic’s professional era record of six Melbourne titles.

Djokovic was world number 58 Chung’s most notable victim on his run to the last four and his exploits caught even Federer’s attention.

“I’m very excited to play Chung. I thought he played an incredible match against Novak,” the 36-yearold said.

“I mean, to beat him here is one of the tough things to do in our sport, I believe.”