Roger Federer reached his 28th career Grand Slam final following a five-set win over Stan Wawrinka in the semi-finals of the Australian Open on Thursday.
The 35-year-old would be victorious in the all-Swiss affair, seeing off an impressive comeback from Wawrinka to win 7-5, 6-3, 1-6, 4-6, 6-3 in a touch over three hours in front of a packed house at the Rod Laver Arena.
Wawrinka’s powerful backhand, arguably the heaviest in the game, plagued him for most of the match as he racked up 23 unforced errors from that shot alone. However, after the 2014 champion’s impressive comeback, there was little to chose between the two. It was always going to come down to who blinked first and, fortunately for Federer, it was not Wawrinka’s day.
A superb backhand flick off his toes earned Federer three break points in the fourth game of the opening set, but Wawrinka rallied to save them all. In the following game it was Wawrinka’s chance to turn on the pressure, but Federer rose to the occasion and saved two break points to hold serve.
And so it went all the way to the 12th game where Federer was 6-5 up. Wawrinka, whose backhand had been ever so solid, sent two wide to give Federer a set point. Wawrinka would find the net and hand Federer the set.
After earning a 4-2 lead in the second and going on to take the set without much fuss, Wawrinka looked to be on the ropes, as even his best tennis was not working.
But Wawrinka tapped into his ample reserves to make a third-set comeback, blitzing the Fed Express in just 24 minutes to force a fourth set.
Wawrinka took the momentum into the fourth, where he broke Federer right off the bat. While Federer returned the favour the very next game, it was clear that there had been a change in momentum. Wawrinka’s length began to make things difficult around the baseline for Federer, who was struggling to find winners.
Just over an hour after Federer had won the second set, Wawrinka forced a fifth.
The epic battle continued late into the night, with neither giving an inch on serve. But Wawrinka’s backhand would falter, giving Federer a break point. Under pressure, Wawrinka would double fault – just his second of the match – all but handing Federer the match at 4-2.
True to form, Federer would serve out the match without issue, much to the crowd’s delight.
The wins ends a prolonged absence from the Melbourne Park final for Federer, whose last appearance was in 2010 when he defeated Andy Murray.
Awaiting Federer is the winner of Friday’s semi-final between 14-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal and 15th seed Grigor Dimitrov.
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