Federer through to final four

Roger Federer has fired a warning shot at his potential challengers in the Australian Open final four after a ruthless deconstruction of sixth seed Nikolay Davydenko in their quarter-final on Wednesday.

Despite a poor start that saw Federer lose the first set and face a double break in the second, the world No. 1 surged back into the match and finished off the Russian 2-6 6-3 6-0 7-5 in two hours and 36 minutes at Rod Laver Arena.

The win extends Federer’s remarkable Grand Slam semi-final run to 23 consecutive appearances in the final four. The last time he wasn’t in the semi-finals of a Grand Slam was at Roland Garros in 2004.

After the match, Federer said he was struggling with Davydenko’s intensity and the sun shining across the court early in the match.

“I just tried to stay positive. I knew that hopefully when the sun goes, it may be for the better. It was a surprise to come back that great,” he said.

Federer looked out of sorts in the first set, as he struggled to hold serve in the opening game of the match before dropping it in the third game.

The in-form Davydenko then managed to break the Swiss again to race away with the first set in just 34 minutes, with Federer hitting frequent errors and only managing to feed the Russian fairly straightforward balls up the centre of the court.

The second set looked to be a continuation of the first, as Davydenko broke Federer’s serve and threatened to break a second time at 3-1 up.

However, Federer fought off two break points to hold serve in what would be a turning point in the match.

The world No. 1 then went on a 13-game tear as Davydenko’s error rate increased markedly while Federer’s confidence grew.

After claiming the second set 6-3, the Swiss raced through the third 6-0 in a set where Davydenko managed only seven points.

A break up in the fourth and still feeding off the Russian’s errors, Federer looked like he would close out the match easily. However, Davydenko fought back to break Federer twice late in the last set, adopting a more aggressive style against the Swiss.

Federer was equal to Davydenko’s challenge, though, and broke back to lead 6-5 before serving out the match to love in the following game.

Fast facts

- Both players had 35 winners, while Davydenko had 50 unforced errors to Federer’s 43.

- Federer served nine aces to Davydenko’s one.

- Davydenko converted just five of 19 break-point chances (26 per cent), while Federer capitalised on eight of his 14 break-point opportunities (57 per cent).

Current Match on Rod Laver Arena Rod Laver Arena - Men's Singles - Quarterfinals Roger Federer SUI (1) 2 6 6 7 Nikolay Davydenko RUS (6) 6 3 0 5 Match Statistics Serve Statistics

Roger Federer defeats Lleyton Hewitt

Federer forced to work in opener

Men’s top seed Roger Federer says he is happy with his first round performance at Australian Open 2010 despite a shaky start that saw him drop a set against Russia’s Igor Andreev at Rod Laver Arena on Tuesday.

The three-time Australian Open champion overcame a spirited challenge from Andreev to progress to the second round with a 4-6 6-2 7-6(2) 6-0 win.

Federer took two hours and 44 minutes to finally overcome a fighting effort from the world No. 37, but he said he was pleased with his match throughout.

“It was a tough match. I knew from the start it wasn’t going to be an easy one,” he said.

“But I reacted and I think I played a very good match.”

The world No. 1 looked strong early in the first set, breaking Andreev’s serve and racing out to a 3-1 lead.

However, Andreev, looking to emulate the efforts of girlfriend Maria Kirilenko and produce a massive upset at Melbourne Park after Kirilenko defeated Maria Sharapova on Monday, broke back and leveled the set at 3-3 before breaking Federer late in the set and holding to take it 6-4.

Federer’s frustration grew late in the first set, and sporadic errors on straightforward forehands had the Rod Laver Arena crowd sensing a possible upset.

The Swiss put those thoughts somewhat to rest in the second set, dominating Andreev and taking it 6-2 to even the match at 1-1.

Much of the centre court crowd probably expected that the third set would see Federer increase his dominance from the second and push on towards victory, but the Russian refused to allow Federer to run away with the match, and broke to lead 2-1 early in the set.

Federer broke straight back, and the Russian’s unreliable first service cost him dearly as Federer took a 5-3 lead and looked to close out the set.

Two service breaks in a row from Andreev sparked the crowd into life, and all of a sudden, the Russian was serving for the third set.

The 12th game of the set was a story of missed opportunities for Andreev, and it would be a crucial part of the match as he failed to capitalise on three set points.

Federer pounced and forced the tie-break, dominating it 7-2 before grabbing a 2-0 lead in the fourth set that could so easily have been Andreev’s.

The pressure told on Andreev in the fourth set, as Federer was untroubled in claiming it 6-0 to advance to the second round.

Federer admitted that the end of the third set was a key time in the match.

“It was just one of those moments where anything can happen ... after that, he may have just been that one step slower than he had been,” Federer said.

The top seed will now face Juan Ignacio Chela or Victor Hanescu in round two.

Current Match on Rod Laver Arena Rod Laver Arena - Men's Singles - 1st Round Roger Federer SUI (1) 4 6 77 6 Igor Andreev RUS 6 2 62 0 Match Statistics Serve Statistics

Roger Federer defeats Igor Andreev

Roger Federer of Switzerland celebrates winning a point in his first round match against Igor Andreev of Russia.

Federer crushes Wawrinka at AAMI Classic

Roger Federer is in great form heading into the Australian Open, thrashing fellow Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka in Kooyong this afternoon.

Tournament: AAMI Classic [Kooyong, Australia]
Category: Exhibition
Date: 17 Jan 2009

......and he got the job done in just 57 minutes. losing 4 games in total!

Continue on for more photos of Fed and the trophy.