Swiss friends Federer, Wawrinka foes again
When the official draws come out at the Grand Slam tennis tournaments, there’s a clamor to view them, digest them and then work out what match pairings can be the most anticipated.
Of prominent interest for the Australian Open was the draw of 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer, who had been sidelined because of a knee injury since losing in the semifinals in Wimbledon in July.
The quick assessment: If the Swiss Master journeyed to the quarterfinals, he likely would face a test against world No. 1 Andy Murray.
Unheralded Mischa Zverev had another idea entirely about how the draw would shake out. He decided to upset Murray in a four- set, serve-and-volley exhibition in the fourth round, thereby lining himself up as Federer’s quarterfinal opponent.
Federer wasn’t about to go the way of Murray by becoming Zverev’s next seeded victim. As the 17th seed, Federer nailed down a solid 6-1, 7-5, 6-2 win to earn a spot in his 41st career Grand Slam semifinal.
Before he played Zverev, Federer took down 10th seed Tomas Berdych in the third round and fifth seed Kei Nishikori in five sets in the fourth round.
Now the road to extending his record Grand Slam title tally goes through good friend Stan Wawrinka in the semifinals. Wawrinka ousted 12th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 7-6 (7-2), 6-4, 6-3.
“People were talking about a dream draw, and I was wondering what people were talking about,” Federer said. “I didn’t see a dream draw. But here I am in the semifinals and going to play Stan.”
The two shared incredible career moments in winning the 2008 Olympic gold medal in doubles and in leading Switzerland to the Davis Cup title in 2014.
“It’s always been different in my career when I played against Roger,” Wawrinka said. “When I step on the court, it’s always something special because he’s the best player, because of everything he’s done in his career, because he’s Swiss, because he’s a really close friend, because of everything we’ve been together. It’s always something special.”
Nowadays, however, although Wawrinka remains respectful of Federer’s achievements, he sees himself differently. He knows he’s a force to be reckoned with, a top player to be feared. Wawrinka is the fourth-ranked player in the world. He is also a three-time Grand Slam champion, having won a major trophy in each of the last three years. His first came in Melbourne in 2014, the second in the 2015 French Open and the third in last year’s U.S. Open.
“Most important is that I try as much as I can to focus on myself, that I step on the court to try to win, to try to find a way how to win the match,” said Wawrinka, looking ahead to playing Federer, who leads him 18-3 in their meetings.
Federer also spoke about the times when Wawrinka would fre- quently call him for advice, asking how he should play against a certain opponent. These days those phone chats are a thing of the past as Wawrinka is no longer in need of his counsel.
As the all-Swiss semifinal approaches, the two friends might be on even footing.
As he left the court Tuesday, Federer semi-kidded about Wawrinka, saying, “I’m happy for him, but he doesn’t need to go one step further.”