Men's First Semi-Final Australian Open Tennis


Men's First Semi-Final

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Hello, the Australian Open has reached the semifinal stage and the

:00:36.:00:41.

Swiss are on a roll. Roger Federer, winner of 17 Grand Slam titles,

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takes on compatriot Stan Wawrinka, who has three majors to his name.

:00:48.:00:50.

For one of them, another place in a Grand Slam final weights. Tennis,

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like life, is all about timing. -- a place in a Grand Slam final weights.

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Time and time again... COMMENTATOR: Back in the big time.

:01:05.:01:14.

True tennis greatness. The third Swiss to win a major. At times, this

:01:15.:01:23.

performance was genius. He can absolutely batter the ball. Pure

:01:24.:01:33.

delight for the whole of Switzerland. What a time to do it.

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The greatest of all time? We can expect precision timing over

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the next hour. We have that match coming up. Before the two Swiss

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greats came unto God, we went back in time to honour one of the greats

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of the past, Australian Rod Laver. The only player to have one tennis's

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Grand Slam twice was honoured with the order of Australia.

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Federer has had the better of their meetings, he has won all 13 of their

:02:21.:02:30.

hard court meetings. They will see their own pictures along the

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corridor as they make their way out onto court. 20 Grand Slam between

:02:35.:02:42.

them and Federer has the lion's share, with 17, but Wawrinka's three

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have all come since Federer's last one.

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Your commentators are Andrew Castle and John Wood.

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COMMENTATOR: I'm not sure there's any future in trying to take a high

:03:07.:03:13.

ball on the backhand side. There are many times he struggled with Rafael

:03:14.:03:19.

Nadal on that one. If there is any area of weakness, even a marginal

:03:20.:03:24.

one, it could be up high on the backhand side.

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You can see how early Federer is trying to take this ball in the

:03:30.:04:04.

rally, he is trying to get ahead of his opponent quickly in these

:04:05.:04:08.

points. The timing has to be absolutely precise. He has missed

:04:09.:04:13.

two backhands in this game in trying to do that.

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As soon as he has lost that point, though, at 0-15, 15-30 can he

:04:19.:04:29.

serve-volleys. It's all very aggressive at the moment. Watching a

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35-year-old Roger Federer with all his talent and records, watching him

:04:35.:04:38.

trying to find a way against this US Open champion, it's quite thrilling.

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There have been so many years when it came so easily for Federer,

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everybody dismissed with a wave of the magic wand of his right hand.

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But now you sense that he is hanging on and he wants another major

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highlight, but he has got trouble here. As the camp Luxon, a break

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point at a time to Wawrinka. I mean, that is virtually a

:05:08.:05:40.

half-volley on a break point down! Yes he was moving onto the ball and

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it was short and Wawrinka will be disappointed, but to take that ball

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on, to get your opponent on the run, as Federer did, break point down...

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Courageous. He may not have age on his side,

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Federer, but he has a record on his side that Irene Coe will be aware

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of. Federer has won 13 and lost none against Wawrinka on hard courts.

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UMPIRE: Federer is challenging the call on the right baseline. I

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thought Wawrinka might have challenged earlier on on the second

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serve actually, but he didn't. This ball was moving quickly. It went

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through the air fast and landed either on the line or just behind.

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Federer has stopped the rally, and he was right to do so. And that is a

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well held game. 6-5 Federer, first set.

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And he has threaded the ball down the line, Federer, who saved a break

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point in the previous game. By correctly challenging a ground

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stroke by Wawrinka on his own baseline, he might have stopped this

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rally earlier. Threads the line, beautiful.

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Oh! That is a great response from Wawrinka. Not an easy poll, John.

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Heavy forehand from Federer. Again, this aggressive mode he is income

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coming in. Took that just early enough to be able to dip its down

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low, create that winner. LINE JUDGE: Out!

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UMPIRE: The ball was called out. Mr Wawrinka challenging the call. Both

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players came in absolutely ready. Federer had beaten Berdych and

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Nishikori in five sets. Wawrinka has felt the fire, he beat Martin Klizan

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in five sets in the first round. So, these are the moments that

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decide a match. LINE JUDGE: Out! This is a vital

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challenge, this one. Federer looked a little bit unsure himself, from

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his reaction after this ball. This is big.

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Having saved a break point in the previous game, Roger Federer with a

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set point. Cheeky slice down the line, changing

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direction and changing the spin! Federer has nicked the first set and

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that is what it was, 50 minutes and seven games to five in this

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committee 's 41st Grand Slam semifinal. The old man is doing

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well. STUDIO

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First blood to the four-time champion Federer. How will Wawrinka

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react? Here he is 3-2 down on serve in the second set.

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Well, it was close. Federer so aggressive on that serve, four feed

:11:55.:12:02.

inside the baseline taking that second serve. Yes, court it -- he

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caught it. CHEERING

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That is amazing. It's hard to believe, looking at this match, that

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Roger Federer could sort of bully someone like Stan Wawrinka, but that

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is what his game plan has been, to be extremely aggressive, take the

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ball on early, serve and volley, mix it up and not give Wawrinka time to

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breathe, and that is what has been happening so far. It is a 99th match

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at the Australian Open for Roger Federer. Only Jimmy Connors has

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played 100 in a slam, in fact he did it at Wimbledon and the US Open. He

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has been around a bit, Roger Federer. And this vast wealth of

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experience, and we've been talking about that slice and that chip

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backhand from Federer, the slice down the line just changing the look

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to Wawrinka, it won him the first set and now it has brought him to

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break at a key moment. Stan Wawrinka on a 12 match winning

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streak at these Grand Slam championships. The last man to beat

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him at a slam, Juan Martin del Potro at Wimbledon in the second round.

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So, the reigning US Open champion under the cosh, second point.

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And the racket takes a hammering and you can understand why. Wawrinka now

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a set and they break down and the dream lives on for Federer. Six

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months away from the game coming into this. What a story Roger

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Federer is creating here. We didn't know whether he could win

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back-to-back matches over five sets against the big guys. But the

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victory over Berdych in straights and then Nishikori in five has got

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Federer believing. There's a bit of eight, whatever the substance is,

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holding that together. It's an automatic warning. It's a bit of a

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silly system for me. He hasn't harmed anybody, apart from the

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racket. I could do that, titanium knees, no problem!

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APPLAUSE I'm not sure there's ever been a

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better front runner in the game than Roger Federer. Just hitting the

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surface and zipping into the back fence.

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He has just tapped his knee there, I'm not sure if that was the knee he

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used to break that racket, but... Federer only played seven tour

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events last year. He injured his knee a day after the semifinal of

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the Australian Open, so a year ago, he had arthroscopic knee surgery in

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February and carried on until Wimbledon, the semifinal for him.

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Then he called it quits. So, six months without hitting a ball. Most

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people would take three or four weeks, or even months, to get back

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to winning ways. But he just slotted straight back in. Incredible.

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Well, how can BOOING

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-- how can Wawrinka respond to this? For consecutive games for Roger

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Federer, a set and 5-2 up in this semifinal. Akram Byas seats quickly,

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please, thank you. UMPIRE: Seats, quickly, please.

:17:10.:17:11.

Thank you. Stan Wawrinka, who has won all three

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of his Grand Slam championships since Roger Federer last won is,

:17:30.:17:35.

which was the 2012 Wimbledon, the match against Andy Murray, where

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Andy cried at the end, you remember? Stan has had such great success, he

:17:42.:17:45.

will rise to number three in the world by the end of this tournament.

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But he has a mountain to climb here. A set and 5-2 down.

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Federer is just charging in where ever he feels like! I thought he had

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no chance there and he actually should have made that volley. The

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easiest folly he has had in this match, he has lobbied superbly other

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than that one. He just needs to keep concentrating. It's almost as though

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he has just taken his foot off the gas and he is preparing for the next

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service game. Some players approach the match in that way, Jimmy Connors

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never used to. But Federer constructs his matches in a slightly

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different way. It can be dangerous to just see the

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momentum to the other player in this situation -- to just cede momentum

:19:30.:19:36.

to the other player. So Federer will be pleased he won that point. Former

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world number two there and an Australian Open semifinalist in

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2000. He has done a fantastic job with

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Stan Wawrinka, but they might need to work on the rallies! He is

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forcing himself to come in a bit more now, Wawrinka, to try to take

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the net away from Federer. It's not a place he's very comfortable with.

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It was in 2000 where his coach, Magnus Norman, made the semifinal,

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and Federer picked up his first Grand Slam win, at this tournament,

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17 years ago. But he wants to forget all about that now and concentrate

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on what is at hand, the chance of going to sets to love up.

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Wawrinka's parents and agent, as well as coach, there.

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Amazing! A hold to love, two sets to love now for Mr Federer.

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Wawrinka really up against it now and also struggling with a knee

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injury and having a medical time-out at the end of the second set. Let's

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join it with Federer two sets to love up and serving at 1-2.

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APPLAUSE Well, three break points! How

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quickly it turns around. Something for the Wawrinka box to get stuck

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into, here. Had those break points in the first set.

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CHEERING And that's it! Game on in this third

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set. First break to Wawrinka. And Wawrinka broke again to wrap up the

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first set -- the third set 6-1. We rejoin the action in the fourth at

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3-4 with Wawrinka serving. STUDIO

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COMMENTATOR: Two games from the final, you could say. This is a

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risky challenge. UMPIRE: Federer has two challenges

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remaining. It stays struck, doesn't it, when he

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hits it, Stan? Strength in the core. And the legs as well.

:26:29.:26:34.

APPLAUSE A bit fortunate, there. Both players

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on their second serves in this set. It has been better in this set. It

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has been pretty consistent throughout.

:26:59.:27:13.

APPLAUSE Back to 30-0, aided by that

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magnificent overhead, yes, but the net cord, the previous point.

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Wawrinka could be heading out the exit more ways than one in a moment.

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One of the umpires there on the right, he does such a -- such a

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great job over the years with this tournament, to build it.

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He's not a choker, Stan Wawrinka. He has won too many big matches for

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that. That slow, sliced ball staying low

:28:22.:28:55.

has given him all sorts of troubles today. Not enough players play it.

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Federer used it on the backhand side to win the first set with that poke

:29:02.:29:04.

down the line. First-class hold. Stan Wawrinka is a

:29:05.:30:15.

man that you have to beat, he's not going to give it away, not at this

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stage in his career, with the periods he has got as well. So that

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was excellent -- with the experience he has got as

:30:23.:30:32.

well. So now the pressure reverts, as is the nature of this sport.

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That so good. Thrust out forehand from behind the baseline. Clean

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winner. Further in trouble. That was deep. Further not expecting that

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kind of reply. -- Federer. Superb, isn't it? What a test. 4-4,

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fourth set, 0-40. It can all happened so quickly. A little

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opportunity in the previous game that may have offered him I thought

:32:11.:32:15.

of the winning line, now he's under pressure.

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APPLAUSE Handy serve.

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Easy hit, he would be thinking he should have blocked it. He's got it!

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Federer should have done more with a backhand volley really. Wawrinka

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kept his eye on the ball and just used his own wonderful hands to

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guided crosscourt. -- guide it. Now Wawrinka will serve to take us to a

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fifth set. For the second time in this fourth set of the stream Open

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semifinal, Wawrinka has a break of serve, the other time was away

:33:51.:33:56.

earlier in the set, the first game. -- Australian Open semifinal. This

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time he's serving for the fifth set. This is an absolute demonstration in

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mon Stan Wawrinka has become. A very hard man to beat. And the very

:34:48.:34:53.

biggest tournaments. In the lower down tournaments he can show up or

:34:54.:34:59.

not but in these big tournaments, he's the man right now. US Open

:35:00.:35:01.

champion. And that's it. We are going to a

:35:02.:35:22.

fifth and deciding set. Wawrinka strong in the last two sets. Winning

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6-1, 6-4. He has never beaten Roger Federer on a hard court. If he does

:35:30.:35:34.

so now, he'll go through to play the winner of Nadal and Dimitrov. It's

:35:35.:35:36.

all on the fifth. STUDIO: The Stirling matches going

:35:37.:35:45.

into fifth and final set, Federer took a medical time-out for

:35:46.:35:49.

treatment on his leg before the decider, lets pick it up at 2-2 with

:35:50.:35:51.

Federer serving. Brilliant return of serve. Must say

:35:52.:36:05.

congratulations to Andy for winning the quad doubles again, the fifth

:36:06.:36:08.

time for him. Gordon Reid and Alfie Hewitt

:36:09.:36:45.

involved still in the final of the doubles competition.

:36:46.:37:00.

Yeah, Rod Lever clapping that. I used to do that every ball! Serve

:37:01.:37:04.

and volley. anything short, anything in that

:37:05.:38:17.

area around the middle of the court, just beyond the service line and

:38:18.:38:23.

bouncing up just gets dispatched. Wawrinka, who was two sets down. Can

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he bridges in this game? 2-2, fifth set.

:38:37.:39:04.

85-90 mph return. That's a lot of pays to generate.

:39:05.:39:46.

Those rallies, those rallies. That's a Wawrinka pattern in this point of

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the match, approaching three hours. But what can Federer do to stop it

:39:58.:40:01.

becoming that? He's getting bludgeoned off the court. Magnus

:40:02.:40:07.

Norman, former world number two, brilliant coach of Wawrinka.

:40:08.:40:16.

Surprising. Did not expect to see that.

:40:17.:40:35.

Normally handles that height so well on the backhand.

:40:36.:40:59.

Remember him winning Wimbledon against Philippoussis with an

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overhead similar to the second one. More a high volley.

:41:08.:41:22.

Break points saved again. Roger Federer, the legend hanging by a

:41:23.:41:30.

thread. Pulling on all his resources. For all his years, this

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is quite something. 3-2, fifth. There are so many statistics in

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tennis, you can bandy them around all like but it comes down to heart

:41:44.:41:50.

and soul and how to produce Europe best and magnify your strengths and

:41:51.:41:56.

get out your opponents's weaknesses. Often forgotten it's a one-on-one

:41:57.:42:04.

contest. You have to be flexible to find your way through these matches.

:42:05.:42:08.

Federer has always been a thinker, a lot on his plate but he's 3-2 up.

:42:09.:42:29.

Federer is ranked number 17 in the world at the moment because he took

:42:30.:42:35.

those six months. Fell out of the top ten in November.

:42:36.:42:49.

He'd been in the top ten until November last year for a consecutive

:42:50.:42:57.

734 weeks. Return there, short backswing.

:42:58.:43:25.

Federer adjusted to the pace of Wawrinka's serve. Little opening

:43:26.:43:28.

here. Federer, who has had to fight off

:43:29.:44:00.

break points in two of his service games now has a couple of break

:44:01.:44:02.

points to get ahead in this fifth. Pressure tells. What a poor service

:44:03.:44:21.

game there. Well, we talk about the

:44:22.:45:08.

single-handed backhand of Wawrinka being a thing of beauty, that wasn't

:45:09.:45:10.

bad. What a serve. Second serve. Two

:45:11.:45:57.

firsts to go 30-love up and a second there and the return after you

:45:58.:45:58.

break. That's how to consolidate. There's the reaction. Probably the

:45:59.:46:38.

first tournament since they'd been married, probables and expecting

:46:39.:46:43.

much in these two weeks. -- probably wasn't. Amazing.

:46:44.:46:50.

Remembering Jimmy Connors in 1991 in the US Open as a 39-year-old going

:46:51.:47:21.

to the semifinal. 35-year-old Roger Federer hasn't played for six

:47:22.:47:27.

months. Played the Hopman cup but that's an unofficial event. Hasn't

:47:28.:47:30.

played since losing to Raonic, the Marin Cilic at Wimbledon in the

:47:31.:47:36.

semifinal. Disappointing! He's come here having not played. A game away

:47:37.:47:47.

from the final. Absolutely staggering performance. The

:47:48.:47:52.

accumulation you felt right now he'd be feeling it. Played some great

:47:53.:48:01.

sense so far, still got to close it out but Wawrinka is not going to go

:48:02.:48:09.

away easily. You think he's nervous ahead of the next game, serving for

:48:10.:48:19.

a place in the final? No. Bet he isn't. He's done it too many times.

:48:20.:48:22.

Not lately. That's true. That's away. 41st Grand Slam

:48:23.:48:29.

semifinal. That's ten years plus. He's won 27 of those semifinals, so

:48:30.:48:51.

he's done it all before but this is unexpected.

:48:52.:49:29.

OK. Well done Wawrinka, his previous service game put him in this

:49:30.:49:42.

position. A couple of errors. He, himself on this Grand Slam match

:49:43.:49:47.

winning streak. He won the US Open and now what?

:49:48.:49:54.

Glorious reception. Federer steps to the line serving for a place in the

:49:55.:50:02.

final. Fought and won- two punch that was

:50:03.:50:57.

on the second serve. You kidding? And how was this would work for

:50:58.:51:02.

moving back out to the left? He was virtually in the tramlines when he

:51:03.:51:07.

hit that forehand. Absolute perfection so far on these two

:51:08.:51:11.

service points. CHEERING

:51:12.:52:06.

The word rape is bandied about too often but this is a great sportsman

:52:07.:52:09.

and this is a great story. Top-class tournament from Stan

:52:10.:52:31.

Wawrinka but it's all about Roger. And his 100th match at the

:52:32.:52:36.

Australian Open will be the final having not played for six months. At

:52:37.:52:46.

35 and it just might be against Rafa Nadal would be just too delicious

:52:47.:52:50.

for words and even if it's against Grigor Dimitrov that would be just

:52:51.:52:53.

fine as well. Fifth set, done a couple of break

:52:54.:53:01.

points, tell us how you escape that and turned it all around. I don't

:53:02.:53:08.

know how many break points I saved. Just two. It was tough I felt Stan

:53:09.:53:13.

had the upper hand on the fifth in the baseline and he was reading my

:53:14.:53:16.

serve well, something about him maybe being more relaxed, I knew I

:53:17.:53:22.

had to stay in it somehow but if I played aggressive and connected on a

:53:23.:53:25.

few returns all of a sudden it could turn round. I feel like he gave a

:53:26.:53:29.

bit of a cheap break, not like I really deserve the that moment and

:53:30.:53:34.

after that I did well and got it home and I couldn't be happier right

:53:35.:53:38.

now. Sounds like you're not the only one who's happy. You're into your

:53:39.:53:45.

sixth Australian Open final. After the six months off, what does this

:53:46.:53:48.

mean to you to be back in a Grand Slam final again? And, following

:53:49.:53:53.

everything happened so quickly at the end. It was disbelief, I had to

:53:54.:54:01.

check the score. It's all real, I'm doing the interview. It feels

:54:02.:54:06.

amazing. I never in my wildest dreams thought I was 20 becoming

:54:07.:54:12.

this far here in Australia. Here I am, got a couple of days. It's all

:54:13.:54:14.

happening. A record extending 28 Grand Slam

:54:15.:54:21.

final for Roger Federer on Sunday. We'll find out tomorrow who his

:54:22.:54:26.

opponent will be, will it be his old rival Rafa Nadal audible Grigor

:54:27.:54:29.

Dimitrov strike a blow for the younger generation? The second

:54:30.:54:31.

semifinal is on tomorrow. Either way it's going to be a dream

:54:32.:54:42.

final on Sunday, Andrew and John are with me. What a comeback this has

:54:43.:54:46.

been for Roger, you just kept thinking, has he reached its peak

:54:47.:54:49.

early in the tournament? He seems to get better and better. The big test

:54:50.:54:53.

for him after Wimbledon last year, we didn't see him at all, six months

:54:54.:54:57.

away from tournament tennis. Most normal people forget how to play.

:54:58.:55:01.

He's been hitting a few balls underrating us but to actually be in

:55:02.:55:04.

a match situation and think clear enough and to get the job done is

:55:05.:55:09.

fantastic. He wasn't sure whether he could play back-to-back best of five

:55:10.:55:13.

set matches and here we are, the six matches, including the one against

:55:14.:55:15.

Nishikori which is demanding and this one as well. It's a fabulous

:55:16.:55:20.

story, one of the sports stories of the year and were not even out of

:55:21.:55:23.

January yet and he hasn't won yet but for me to see this man who has

:55:24.:55:27.

transcended the sport in so many ways still playing with youthful joy

:55:28.:55:31.

and with exuberance, even if you don't love tennis, just watch this

:55:32.:55:35.

because when he's not here any more were certainly going to look back

:55:36.:55:39.

and say it was one of the greatest if not the greatest. Treasure him

:55:40.:55:42.

when his, physically it was incredible but mentally, two sets

:55:43.:55:47.

up, felt his back in the locker room and having to go to a fifth set,

:55:48.:55:51.

mentally he did well. The first two says he was so aggressive, had a

:55:52.:55:54.

game plan, coming in a lot more than we had seen him and Wawrinka has

:55:55.:55:58.

that eighth minute time-out for the injury and he lost his way a bit was

:55:59.:56:02.

that he loses the third and fourth and you think... Then he goes right

:56:03.:56:06.

back to being aggressive again, a couple of little chance is Wawrinka

:56:07.:56:09.

had but Federer got at him and he went back to his old plan again and

:56:10.:56:13.

came back to be aggressive and took chances. It's remarkable. Six months

:56:14.:56:18.

out, he's in the final of the Australian Open at 35. It's

:56:19.:56:22.

staggering. You'll be happy to have a couple of days off, warranty? And

:56:23.:56:27.

will be useful just spent some time with the kids, all of whom are now

:56:28.:56:31.

ready to go skiing. They inform them mother and dad said give me a couple

:56:32.:56:36.

of days, keep watching the tennis. Certainly been a wonderful turn of

:56:37.:56:41.

comebacks and surprises, ended women's semifinals, yet another

:56:42.:56:44.

wonderful storyline. Venus Williams at the age of 36 is true to her

:56:45.:56:49.

first Grand Slam final for eight years, she beat fellow American Coco

:56:50.:56:55.

Vandeweghe. You can see just how much it means to her. In the final

:56:56.:56:59.

Venus will need a familiar face, sister Serena who beat Marianna

:57:00.:57:12.

Baroni. The Croatian would be to -- won't be too disappointed. It's an

:57:13.:57:16.

all Williams Grand Slam final for the ninth time on the first since

:57:17.:57:19.

2009. That's on Saturday. It is an incredible storyline, John.

:57:20.:57:32.

Probably expect Serena to be there but for Venus to be back in the

:57:33.:57:34.

grand slam final. We expected with Venus that she was

:57:35.:57:39.

capable of winning some good matches but to be in the finals of another

:57:40.:57:44.

grand at her age. Identikit was possible and once again she's just

:57:45.:57:47.

proved she still great, great player. Coming through injuries,

:57:48.:57:53.

illness, so much, shows the love of the Williams sisters have for the

:57:54.:57:56.

game. In their mid-30s and loving it as much as ever. The average age of

:57:57.:58:01.

the semifinalists was 32.5, the average age of the finalists is

:58:02.:58:06.

35.5. The two have been such dominant figures, none more so than

:58:07.:58:10.

Serena who rises to the challenge every time. Angelique Kerber out

:58:11.:58:13.

quite early on, everybody talking about Johanna Konta and Sarinah

:58:14.:58:17.

dismisses her for the loss of five games and I thought Baroni would go

:58:18.:58:20.

down the same way. Serena is the present. I think she just wonderful

:58:21.:58:27.

player. Only thing in Venus's favour is that she's putting her sister and

:58:28.:58:31.

maybe a little more generous at times. They had close matches, she

:58:32.:58:36.

respected Venus much but when Serena starts, she's heavy favourite. I

:58:37.:58:40.

give very much, it's been one fairy tale story at another after another

:58:41.:58:48.

in Melbourne. The Williams sisters in the final and Roger Federer going

:58:49.:58:51.

for grand slam title number 18. To break someone physically... Agh!

:58:52.:59:00.

..is not a problem.

:59:01.:59:07.

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