ROGER FEDERER defeated fellow Swiss Stan Wawarinka in five gruelling sets in their Australian Open semi-final.
The 17-time Grand Slam champ Federer will now go forth and take on either old foe Rafael Nadal or Grigor Dimitrov in Sunday’s final.
The winner will face either Rafael Nadal or Grigor Dimitrov in the final on Sunday.
Nadal faces Dimitrov on Friday morning.
Related stories
Wawrinka, who beat Nadal in the 2014 Australian Open final, was bidding to reach his fourth Grand Slam final and his second in Melbourne.
Federer won the first two sets before Wawrinka, clearly in pain, left the court for a brief while for treatment, but not before he SNAPPED his racket after being broken in the second set.
Wawrinka returned with his right knee in a bandage and prevailed in the third set.
Federer, who’s last final was the 2015 US Open, came on strong in the fifth – breaking in the sixth game before securing the victory to wild applause at the Rod Laver Arena.
It will be the 28th final of Federer’s illustrious career, and it means Federer, at 35, is the oldest man to reach a Grand Slam final since the 39-year-old Ken Rosewall made it to the last hurdle at the US Open in 1974.
Federer said: "Yes, it is real now. I can talk about playing in finals for the first time.
"I have been dodging that bullet for the last few days now talking about the next round and the next round but this is the last one.
"So I will leave it all out here in Australia and (even) if I cannot walk for another five months, I will give it all I have."
Leave a comment