Roger Federer was at his dominant best on Wednesday to book a place in the Australian Open semifinals as Ana Ivanovic brought Venus Williams’s tournament to a juddering halt.
The Swiss ace kept his cool in two close-fought sets against 12th seeded American James Blake before running away a 7-5, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 winner and will face Serbian third seed Novak Djokovic for a place in the final.
Djokovic demolished fifth seed David Ferrer to clinch his fourth consecutive Grand Slam semifinal slot, and, like Federer, was dynamic in wiping out the Spaniard 6-0, 6-3, 7-5.
Standing between Ivanovic and a final appearance is Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova, who blew Polish teenager Agnieszka Radwanska off court 6-2, 6-2, as she continues her comeback after a dive in the rankings.
In beating Blake, Federer reached a record 15th consecutive Grand Slam semifinal and secured the number one ranking for a record 209th week.
”It’s great being on top of the game for so long and being compared to greats like Rod Laver and Pete Sampras; it’s great being part of the pinnacle of the sport in every Grand Slam I’m playing in,” Federer said.
”We know how tough it is to win Grand Slams, it’s a long way,” he added.
It was a sorry end for Williams, who was desperate to claim her first title at Melbourne Park to add to her four Wimbledon and two US Open crowns.
Ivanovic (20) overcame the American eighth seed in a ferociously contested 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 thriller, and credited the crowd on centre court and her improved fitness for helping her into the last four for the first time.
”It was an amazing match, we had lots of long rallies, she’s an amazing competitor and she was also playing very well today [Wednesday],” the 20-year-old fourth seed said after posting her first win over Williams in four attempts.
”I’m just so happy I pulled through the whole two sets.
”Most of all, I’m thrilled that it happened here because I just love playing here and I’m so comfortable here on court.”
Williams played with her left thigh heavily strapped, but gave credit to her opponent. And she defiantly vowed to bounce back.
”I have full expectations and aspirations to continue to play high quality tennis and to continue to be a champion,” she said.
Ivanovic will play ninth seed Hantuchova, ensuring at least one player in the final on Saturday will be contesting their first Australian decider.
In the other semifinal, fellow Serb Jelena Jankovic, seeded three, takes on fifth seeded Russian Maria Sharapova on Thursday.
Hantuchova (25) emphatically announced her Grand Slam comeback when she outclassed Radwanska for the loss of just four games.
The win ended Radwanska’s giant-killing run, which included second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova and former world number three Nadia Petrova, and confirmed the Slovak’s return to the big-time.
She is in her first Grand Slam semifinal and it comes five years after her last Grand Slam quarterfinal appearance here.
”It feels great. Every tennis player knows what I’m talking about when you get to that point when you feel like everything you touch is going in and I want to go on as long as possible,” she said,
Djokovic was in dazzling form against Ferrer, but admitted nerves got the better of him as he tried to close the match in the third set.
”I even surprised myself with the way I played today [Wednesday], especially in the first two sets, but in the end I was very, very nervous,” he said.
”You always try to improve and I’m very happy that I am performing my best tennis in the major events, this is just the start, so hopefully I can get all the way.”
The Serb has advanced without dropping a set in his five matches, stretching his winning streak on hard courts to nine matches. — AFP
