Federer rolls and will face upstart Chung in semifinals of Australian Open
Melbourne, Australia — Roger Federer got cranky at the chair umpire for a technology flaw in his Australian Open quarterfinal match, using the rare emotional outburst as motivation.
It helped. The 36-year-old Federer, now the oldest semifinalist in Melbourne in 41 years, beat long-time rival Tomas Berdych 7-6 (1), 6-3, 6-4 Wednesday and will next face a challenge from the next generation.
That will be against 21-year-old Hyeon Chung, the first South Korean to reach a Grand Slam semifinal and the youngest to reach the last four at a major since 2010.
Federer's victory extended his winning streak to 14 in Australian Open quarterfinals and to nine in a personal rivalry with Berdych that dates back to 2004. The 19-time major champion leads that head-to-head contest 20-6, including all five meetings at Melbourne Park.
Federer had to overcome a shaky start, dropping his opening service game and uncharacteristically questioning chair umpire Fergus Murphy because of a technological fault. With Berdych serving for the first set in the ninth game, Federer had challenged a line call.
After a lengthy delay, Murphy called the control room and confirmed the replay graphic couldn't be displayed on the stadium screen, and also that the original decision stood. When he added that Federer had no challenges remaining for the set, Federer approached the chair and the crowd cheers intensified.
"Yeah, but you can't steal my challenge," Federer told Murphy. "Do you feel comfortable with this? You're OK with it?"
Seven points later, he eventually broke Berdych to get back on serve, and then won the tiebreaker. The match was as good as over.
"I had to get a bit lucky. A bit angry. A bit frustrated maybe at the umpire," Federer said. "Anyway, glad to get out of that first set. It was key to the match."
Federer later said he just wanted an explanation from the chair, and agreed that blowing off steam helped his cause.
"I was under pressure. It was definitely very close, the turning point," he said. "I played a great breaker. But coming back from 5-2 in the first set, it was clearly big tonight."
Chung beat 97th-ranked Tennys Sandgren 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in the afternoon match.
The 58th-ranked Chung is the lowest-ranked man to reach the Australian Open semifinals since Marat Safin in 2004.
With Chung already through, and Kyle Edmund playing No. 6 Marin Cilic in the other half of the draw, it's the first time since 1999 that multiple unseeded players have reached the Australian Open semifinals.
The women's semifinals were determined earlier Wednesday, when top-ranked Simona Halep recovered from an early break to win nine straight games in a 6-3, 6-2 win over No. 6 Karolina Pliskova, and 2016 Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber routed U.S. Open finalist Madison Keys 6-1, 6-2. In the other semifinal match, No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki will play 22-year-old Elise Mertens.