Federer saves 7 match points in Australia
Barty advances to semifinals; Kenin next
MELBOURNE, Australia, Jan 28, (AP): Roger Federer was not going to go gently, of course, no matter how daunting the number of match points - his opponent accumulated seven! - no matter how achy his 38-year-old legs, no matter how slow his serves, no matter how off-target his groundstrokes.
Federer still plays for the love of these stages and circumstances. Still yearns for more trophies, too. Down to his very last gasp, time and again, against someone a decade younger, 100th-ranked Tennys Sandgren of the United States, Federer somehow pulled off a memorable comeback to reach the Australian Open semifinals for the 15th time.
Despite all sorts of signs he was not quite himself for much of the match, Federer beat the biceps-baring, hardhitting, court-covering Sandgren 6-3, 2-6, 2-6, 7-6 (8), 6-3 on Tuesday in a rollicking quarter-final that appeared to be over long before it truly was.
He said afterward that it had been his groin muscle that was the problem and he couldn’t be certain whether he would be fully recovered for his next match. That will come against defending champion Novak Djokovic, who overwhelmed No. 32 Milos Raonic 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (1) to improve to 10-0 against the 2016 Wimbledon runnerup.
It’ll be the 50th meeting between No. 3 Federer, who has won 20 Grand
Slam titles, and No. 2 Djokovic, who owns 16.
Djokovic leads their head-to-head series 26-23, including their past five matches at majors.
About the only thing that slowed Djokovic’s progression to a 37th career Grand Slam semifinal - Federer earned his 46th - was the medical timeout the Serb asked for at 4-all in the third set so he could put in new contact lenses.
Federer got into a dispute with a line judge and the chair umpire over cursing. He left the court for a medical timeout early in the third set, then was visited by a trainer later for a right leg massage.
Sandgren was run into by a ballkid during a changeover in the tiebreaker; was distracted by a courtside broadcast commentator.
The 28-year-old from Tennessee has never been a major semifinalist and was trying to become the lowestranked man in the Australian Open’s final four since Patrick McEnroe John’s younger brother - was No. 114 in 1991.
Imagine, then, the heartbreak for Sandgren, who toiled for years on lower-level tours and was so thrilled just to share the stage with Federer.
After rolling through the second and third sets as Federer’s serve dropped from an average of 112 mph to 105 mph - “Wasn’t popping like it does normally,” Sandgren observed - and Federer’s unforced errors totaled 30, the underdog led 5-4 in the fourth set.
That’s when Sandgren earned his first trio of opportunities to complete a career-defining victory. But he missed a shot each time. There were four more match points in the tiebreaker at 6-3, 6-4, 6-5 and 7-6.
When Sandgren sent an overhead smash long to give Federer the fourth set. Federer quickly controlled the fifth and ended the victory with a service winner at 119 mph, a little more than an hour after first staring down defeat.
The key moment for him Tuesday came rather early: Raonic went into the quarterfinals having won all 59 of his service games in the tournament. But that streak ended at 5-4 against Djokovic. On Djokovic’s ninth break point of the match, Raonic missed a forehand to cap a 19-shot exchange, handing over the opening set.
Djokovic yelled and threw an uppercut. Two Raonic service games later, he broke yet again, all he would need to own the second set, too. Soon enough, he was two wins from a record-extending eighth championship at the Australian Open.
Federer has won six titles at Melbourne Park and never lost there to anyone ranked worse than 54th. But Sandgren, whose career tour-level record is under .500, played superbly. He won more points, 161-160, and produced edges of 27-5 in aces, 73-44 in total winners.
Ash Barty is a step closer to ending a four-decade drought for Aussies at the national championship.
Top-ranked Barty was under pressure on her serve and saved a set point in the tiebreaker before seizing the momentum against two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in a 7-6 (6), 6-2 quarterfinal win .
The so-called Barty Party in 2019 ended in a quarter-final loss to Kvitova. The start of a new decade is cause for a bigger celebration at Melbourne Park.
Barty next faces Sofia Kenin, who reached the semifinals at a major for the first time with a 6-4, 6-4 win over No. 78-ranked Ons Jabeur.
In a first set that lasted almost 70 minutes, Barty fended off eight of the nine break-point chances she faced before finally getting the upper hand when she won a 22-shot rally, defending for much of it and sending up lobs just to stay in the point, at 3-2 down in the tiebreaker.
She went on a roll to take a 4-0 lead in the second and take all the momentum away from Kvitova, who beat her here in the quarterfinals last year before before losing the final to Naomi
Osaka.
Barty rebounded from that to win her first major title at the French Open, where she beat Kenin in the fourth round. Until she arrived in Australia, Kenin’s run at Roland Garros - which included a thirdround upset over Serena Williams - was her best at a Grand Slam.
There’s a lot of local expectation riding on Barty, who is aiming to be the first Australian woman since Chris O’Neil in 1978 to win the Australian Open. The first major of the decade may see the end of the 42-year wait, and an Australian man hasn’t won since 1976. Barty is already the first Australian woman since 1984 to reach the semifinals of the home Open.
Barty doesn’t expect to feel the pressure. She won her first title on home soil in Adelaide in the lead-up to this season’s first major.