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29 March 2024

Federer fells Murray to book Nadal semifinal

Roger Federer of Switzerland celebrates defeating Andy Murray of Britain in their men's singles quarter-final tennis match at the Australian Open 2014 tennis tournament in Melbourne January 22, 2014. (REUTERS)

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By Agencies

A resurgent Roger Federer weathered a belated challenge from Andy Murray at the Australian Open on Wednesday to win 6-3 6-4 6-7(6) 6-3 and set up a mouth-watering semi-final with great rival Rafa Nadal.

Stingy on serve and dominant at the net, the 17-times Grand Slam champion wobbled when serving out for the match at 5-4 in the third set and was dragged into a tiebreak in an atmosphere of unrelenting tension at Rod Laver Arena.

Battling fatigue, Murray saved two match-points to keep his bid for a third Grand Slam title alive but met ever stiffer resistance from the imperious Swiss who attacked his serve with abandon in the final set.

Having saved a raft of break points, the 26-year-old crumbled at 4-3 to concede the decisive break and Federer made no mistake on his third match point, sealing the thriller with an ace after three hours and 20 minutes.

"Andy played well and put the pressure on me so I'm happy to get the win," a relieved Federer said in a courtside interview after notching his 11th successive semi-final appearance at Melbourne Park.

"I probably miss more break points than other guys but I keep my composure and keep the poker face and tonight it worked."

Having mowed down Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets in his previous match, the red-hot Swiss appeared set to do the same to Murray, who showed signs of his lack of match practice on the comeback from back surgery.

Federer prised two break points in just the fourth game by rushing the net and volleying into the corner, and Murray, struggling to find his range, duly lost serve by clubbing a forehand long.

Murray sent two of his rackets to be re-strung and though the Scot buoyed himself with a couple of sizzling passing shots, Federer calmly served out the final game of the set to love, sealing it with a huge first serve.

Serving in the opening game of the second, Murray fired himself up by winning a thrilling 23-shot rally, but was down a break again at 2-2 after blasting a forehand crosscourt just wide as Federer ratcheted up the pressure.

Unable to get a look at Federer's serve, and outplayed on the baseline, Murray slumped to a two-set deficit after losing a series of attritional rallies.

Pushed to the wall, the Scot saved four break points in his first two service games of the third set, and winced with pain after reaching for a low ball, laying a hand on his lower back.

The pressure finally told as Murray netted a forehand to be broken at 4-4, but Federer, inexplicably, wavered when serving for the match.

Having not given up a single break point, Federer conceded two with a pair of unforced errors, and Murray sealed the second after running the Swiss ragged.

Dragged into a tiebreak, Federer showcased a brilliant defence to leap to a 5-2 lead and held two match-points when Murray floated a backhand long.

The pressure reaching breaking point, Murray saved both, surviving the first with an epic 24-shot rally, before clobbering a forehand down the line to raise set point.

Suddenly tentative, Federer fluffed a half-hearted forehand to concede the set, leaving Murray to punch his fists and roar.

Under siege for 19 minutes in his next service game, Murray saved six break points and then another at 3-2 down.

Federer was unrelenting, however, and had another three chances to break at 4-3. Murray saved the first two, but was beaten by a sumptuous drop-shot that he could only play back to the Swiss who pushed the volley into an open court.

Murray came again, putting Federer under pressure again at 0-30 but the Swiss maestro unleashed three huge serves to kill off the contest, raising thunderous cheers from a sentimental crowd.

"I'm much higher than I was last year. I have confidence in my movement and it's a game of movement out there these days," said the Swiss.

"I'm just happy to be playing back out here healthy," Federer said, looking forward to his clash with top seed Nadal.

"It's going to be a good match, it's going to be brutal and all those things ... Looking forward to slugging it out with him in a couple of days."

World number one Rafael Nadal fought off a big challenge from rising Bulgarian star Grigor Dimitrov to reach the semifinals of the Australian Open on Wednesday.

Nadal got home 3-6, 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (9/7), 6-2 in three hours 37 minutes.

For long passages of the quarter-final on Rod Laver Arena, Nadal was struggling to put away the 22nd-seeded Dimitrov, and he needed a bit of luck at crucial stages to go through.

"I was so lucky, after saving set points in the third set," he said. "He just missed an easy forehand... Today was for me, so I'm so happy."

Nadal was playing after three-time defending champion Novak Djokovic was upset by Stanislas Wawrinka late on Tuesday, and there were times when he looked like becoming another casualty.

Nadal's serve, troubled by a large blister on his left hand, was shaky and he gave up seven double-faults, including two of them on break points.

But the 2009 Australian Open champion won through to his fourth semifinal in Melbourne and his 22nd in Grand Slams, while extending his winning streak to 10 matches.

Dimitrov, 22, who was bidding to become only the second Bulgarian to reach a Grand Slam semifinal, showed what an emerging talent he is to have Nadal under pressure for long periods.

Nadal's opening serve was broken and Dimitrov controlled the remainder of the set as the 13-time Grand Slam champion dropped his first set of the tournament.

Nadal began to test the legs of the young Bulgarian with some longer, physical rallies in the second set, but after breaking Dimitrov's serve he handed back the break with three double-faults in the third game.

The set went to a tiebreaker which Nadal comfortably won with an exquisite backhand flick across court to level the match.

But just when the top seed looked to be getting on top, after breaking the Bulgarian's serve in the fifth game, Nadal's shaky serve again cost him with a double-fault on break point.

Nadal fought off set point as the third set went into another tiebreaker and he was fortunate to survive after Dimitrov just missed a forehand winner to the corner on his first of two set points.

Nadal quickly seized the advantage to get to set point, and Dimitrov lost the set with an overhit forehand off a net cord.

Dimitrov was broken in the second game of the final set, after six deuces, on a Nadal backhand pass and the Spaniard went on to claim victory on his fourth match point.