Federer lets off steam, reaches semifinals
Wozniacki advances to first Grand Slam final outside the U.S.
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 longtime 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-yearold 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. Wozniacki reaches final
On the women’s side, Caroline Wozniacki reached the final for the first time with a 6-3, 7-6 (2) win Thursday over Elise Mertens, moving within one win of a Grand Slam breakthrough.
It’s her first Grand Slam final anywhere outside of the United States, where she lost U.S. Open finals in 2009 (to Kim Clijsters) and 2014 (to Serena Williams).
Wozniacki appeared to be coasting against the 22-year-old Mertens, getting breaks in the middle of each set. But she began getting tight when she was serving for the match at 5-4: From 30-15, she double-faulted twice, and Mertens passed her with a forehand winner in between to make it 5-5.
The No. 37-ranked Mertens lifted, holding her serve at love and then having two set points in the next game before Wozniacki eventually held a game that lasted almost 8½ minutes.
Wozniacki dominated the tiebreaker and put memories of her last Australian Open semifinal behind her — she had match points against Li Na in the semifinal in 2011, but was unable to convert. This time, experience helped. “It means so much to me. I got really tight at 5-4. I kind of felt head against the wall,” she said. “I knew I had to try and stay calm. Once she had set points. I thought, ‘OK, now you just have to go for it ... she’s nervous now too.” Shaky start for Federer
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 on the line call 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.
Chung hadn’t let up in upset wins over No. 4 Alexander Zverev or six-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, but he let his guard down in the last game against Sandgren and needed six match points to finish it off.
The 58th-ranked Chung is the lowest-ranked man to reach the Australian Open semifinals since Marat Safin in 2004.