Federer versus Hyeon
Melbourne: It will be a clash of two generations when defending champion Roger Federer face South Korea’s Chung Hyeon in a men’s singles semifinal here Friday.
While Federer let his racquet do most of the talking Wednesday, after an argument with the chair umpire, to demolish Czech Republic’s Tomas Berdych 7-6(7-1) 6-3, 6-4 for the ninth straight time, Hyeon continued his trailblazing run tossing aside American Tennys Sandgren aside 6-4, 7-6(7-5), 6-3. Hyeon created a record of sorts by becoming the first South Korean for a Grand Slam semifinal
“It is great for the game, tennis needs youngsters like him (Hyeon),” Federer said during an on-court interview. “The more youngsters come up, tennis will benefit. As for me, I am not losing any sleep. You’ve got to do your best to beat the other across the net.”
Despite the scoreline, it was not all smooth sailing against the burly Czech for the 36-year-old Federer. The Swiss later admitted that he stole the first set from his adversary as he arrived in the last four of a Grand Slam for the 43rd time – and the 11th time without dropping a set.
“Tomas was really good in the first two sets, then his intensity waned a little in the third,” Federer said of their encounter. “May be because I stole the first set from him, he felt dejected,” Federer joked.
Berdych had one set point which Federer saved with a sweetly-struck backhand and another backhand went past him to give the Swiss the break back. The Swiss then turned on the style in the tie-break, allowing Berdych a solitary point, and then wrapped up the second set with a single break of serve.
Berdych could have thrown in the towel when he fell behind in the third set, but kept Federer on his toes by breaking back. It only delayed the inevitable, though, as Federer broke again and completed the job with a love service game to set up a meeting with Hyeon.
As in his fourth round elimination of six-time champion Novak Djokovic, Chung had all the answers against World No. 97 Sandgren, returning virtually everything the battling American could throw at him.
A near-perfect display finished with a wobble when serving out the match, as he squandered a 40-0 lead and saw a total of five match points evaporate into a cloudless sky.
“I think (in the) last game, many things come together. If I win one more point, I make history in Korea,” he told reporters. “Something I (was) thinking like that. I have to think about the ceremony. Anyway, I had to stay calm because… the match was not finished yet.”