Nine days gone at the 2011 Australian Open and Roger Federer needs just two more victories to win his 17th Grand Slam title.
It could hardly have been a smoother ride for him in Tuesday afternoon’s quarterfinal against Stanislas Wawrinka, a 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 win in an hour and 47 minutes. Federer broke in the second game of the match and ran out the opening set in 29 minutes. After a shaky opening frame, the second set was when Wawrinka had to make an impression on his older Swiss compatriot.
If the down-the-line backhand is a gut-check shot for tennis players, Wawrinka would normally be one of the first to pass the test. That shot was spectacular against Andy Roddick on Sunday night, but it let him down badly today, particularly when leading 3-2 in the second set and holding his only break point of the match. Wawrinka went for his normally reliable shot and missed it wide. That was followed by a loud growl of frustration.
Once he failed to break, Wawrinka missed another down-the-line backhand in the second point of his subsequent service game. Four points later, Federer completed a key trio of those backhands, adding insult to injury by passing Wawrinka down the line to break and grab a 4-3 advantage, pretty well sealing the deal. In the third set, Federer broke serve in the second game and a frustrated Wawrinka smashed his racquet in disgust.
It was that kind of day for the Swiss No. 2, and some of that surely had to do with early nerves and a general displeasure for playing so early in the afternoon. The Wawrinka camp were reportedly upset that it was not a night match; it would have given their man more time to rest and allowed him to play in familiar conditions, following his night-session wins in the two previous rounds over Gael Monfils and Roddick.
Whether it’s true or false, they thought Federer, a four-time Australian Open champion, pulled rank and got the faster day conditions that he prefers. Even Federer conceded that afterward when he said, “I think the start was really crucial, maybe a bit of a battle for him to get used to the conditions after playing two such great matches at night.”
Today, Federer never looked uncomfortable, as he often was against Gilles Simon in the second round and at times was against Tommy Robredo in the round of 16. He enters the semifinals a confident guy. Some stats were just okay—29 winners and 24 unforced errors—but some were stellar: He made 77 percent of first serves, won 72 percent of first-serve points and 76 percent of second-serve points.
Now he gets to do what he loves to do at the Australian and U.S. Opens—watch a night match, tonight’s featuring the man he will meet in his eighth consecutive semifinal Down Under, either Tomas Berdych or Novak Djokovic.
—Tom Tebbutt