Day 12 Highlights Australian Open Tennis

Fabulous performance from Marin

Cilic. Fabulous tournament. For Kyle

Edmund. Kyle Edmund will have

learned such a lot over the course

of his six matches here.

learned such a lot over the course

of his six matches here.

Yesterday, sadly, the end of the

road for Kyle Edmund as he was

beaten by the big hit in Croatian,

Marin Cilic. But he can walk away

with immense pride in his

achievements down under, along with

a large pay packet and a ranking set

to soar. So, Cilic is through to

face the winner of today's

semifinal. Like yesterday, youth

against experience, as the great

Roger Federer takes on 21-year-old

Hyeon Chung. A Matt Schaub

contrasting styles and much more. --

a match of contrasting styles and

much more.

Federer wins the Australian Open.

It

is just the start of his career.

That was breathtaking. It is all

about Roger Federer. That was a

performance that will live long in

the memory.

The difference between the two is

vast. The question is, can Chung

channel his inner Djokovic? His

results have certainly been

impressive so far. In a third-round

committee defeated another one of

the rising stars, and then next

round was Djokovic. Not many people

get to meet their idols, even fewer

get to beat them, but Chung outrun

and outplayed the six time champion,

such is the changing face of men's

tennis. One seemingly unstoppable

force stands firm, wafting everybody

aside with ease. Yet to drop a set

or be troubled. So, today, could

this man find the formula to

challenge Roger? The young South

Korean made along, nervous walk for

the biggest match of his career so

far, his first major semifinal. For

this round, though, it is familiar

territory. His 14th Australian Open

semifinal, 43rd in total in Grand

Slams. The records continue to

tumble when this man steps onto

court. We can join the match at the

start, with our commentators John

Lloyd and Andrew Castle.

APPLAUSE

That is a fascinating first game.

Roger Federer, testing, pulling

Chung from side to side. An indoor

match, a celebration of everything

Roger Federer has achieved before.

An amazing atmosphere at the Rod

Laver Arena. Chung responding. He

will find himself under pressure in

this game. He already is.

Welcome to a Grand Slam semifinal,

Hyeon Chung South Korea, the first

South Korean player to achieve a

major semifinal. Yesterday, Kyle

Edmund against Marin Cilic, two

break points in game one.

Chung, so loose of ligament,

flexibility, great natural athlete.

Lateral

Lateral mover. He's had a lot of

injuries.

Five Australian Opens.

Well done, Chung.

Didn't like the

look of that rally. Thought Federer

was manoeuvring him around and got

set with the big forehand. That is

normally a shot where, well, I'll

see you later. But he missed it at

the top of the net.

If Federer

doesn't come through this game he

will be extremely disappointed. He

knows exactly what he is facing now.

Chung hits the ball hard, he moves

superbly and he has youth on his

side.

Brutal opening game.

Federer gets the breakthrough. A

43rd semifinal in majors, which is

utterly ridiculous. Every spectator

enjoying that opening game.

Chung has not played badly.

He has

hit the ball great. But it comes

back half-volley, back to a length.

Bit late.

CROWD GASPS

I thought that was coming, the way

Federer was looking over.

The ball is arriving very quickly

back at Federer. He will know

exactly what he is facing tonight.

He knows it is the best of five

sets. Eight minutes played, as you

can see. Although Federer is in

charge, seemingly, we will see about

this one.

That's good.

If the South Korean player can just

stick around for a while, Federer

has come out excited, playing well.

We know his record in all regards.

Phenomenal. His reputation is second

to none. But there is no doubt that

Chung's ground strokes are a match

for Federer.

Yes, the top-spin bringing it down.

Called that before it even bounced.

That is a shame for Chung because he

is in the rally. He might not be,

after this.

Top of the net. Fortune favouring

Federer, there. It was high enough

to go over. It would have been a

pretty tough volley for the South

Korean player. It would have been a

pretty defensive volley.

What a tough opening stanza disses.

-- this is.

The two opening games have gone to

Roger Federer. Not without a fight.

He suffocates you, Roger Federer.

You have no time to breathe. He is

just on top of the ball. So close to

the baseline, just not giving you a

chance to prepare for the next shot.

This content -- contest is very much

alive.

A dominant opening from Roger

Federer and he would break again. We

rejoin at 5-1, Chung serving to stay

in the set.

15 straight sets for Roger Federer

at this Grand Slam Championship.

Carving through the draw. The first

time he has got to the semifinal of

a slam doing this, this is the 11th

time, getting to the semifinal

without losing a set, five times he

has gone on to win the tournament,

two without losing a set!

Sometimes I wonder if he looks down

the other end and wonders how

anybody is making a living from

tennis. They are all rubbish!

Slowing at first serve speed down,

if he misses his first serve, his

second serve is getting attacked big

time, he will slow that down just to

get the first serve in.

Five Australian Open is won by Roger

Federer.

He could take a step toward a sixth.

Marin Cilic is waiting in the final.

It's a good job that was catching a

bit of the rockets, otherwise that

would have been a complete

would have been a complete whiff. --

caught a bit of the racket.

Would

have been a complete airball.

Not a good idea coming in on the

Federer forehand. Not a good idea

coming in period, I think, the way

that Federer is playing at the

moment. Too much room.

Too much time.

Just a little too cute. Federer had

made the move.

Just does not give him time.

Not a bad first serve. It comes at

him so fast he can barely flick that

back, and then opening straight to

the Federer forehand.

the Federer forehand.

Eric Garner.

And Mark Webber, there.

Sending out all of these messages

during this set. Any time he missed

the first serve, I'm standing

straight in the baseline. Any time

you hit a ground strokes, if it is

not within two feet of the baseline,

I am smacking it wider view. Just

taking no time, giving him no time

to relax.

Having to flick balls from within a

foot of the line, it is coming at

him so quickly.

Showtime, isn't it?

Absolute showtime. Federer giving no

time whatsoever, ala Agassi.

Probably the most improved shot in

tennis over the last five years, the

film crew backhand. -- the Federer

backhand.

The ATP most improved player in

2015, Chung. He won four challenges

that year, rose up to a ranking

high. He has had a lot of injury

problems. I hope that settled down,

he's only 21.

That is just the Federer presents

that created that double fault.

He

has had left ankle and heel

problems, and abdominal problems,

has Chung. Maybe too many repetitive

practices between 13 and 15.

That is an amazing game of tennis.

Rod Laver

Rod Laver, dad, everybody in awe of

Roger Federer, as we are.

A brilliant set of tennis from

Federer. The early exchanges of the

second set went with serve and we

pick up the action again at 2-1,

with the South Korean serving.

Another example where Chung is just

not doing enough on his ground

strokes.

Still, that first serve percentage

is still low.

A Grand Slam final on his eighth

appearance at a major Championship,

only his eighth. Pete Sampras did

that in 1990. At the last time

somebody made a slam final that

quick, of course, he went on and won

it.

But it is a long long way away now.

Very easy for him to be panicky,

which he is at the moment, in this

situation. Playing in his first

semifinals, against the greatest

player of all-time, things going

away rapidly.

That is a correction, and that ball

is good, that should be Chung's

point. For sure, that should be?

This is what happened yesterday with

Kyle Edmund.

The call did not hinder

you, it was after you missed the

shot.

Players hate this, there needs

to be a definite rule. It is left in

the hands of the umpire, it is

pretty much a judgment call, whether

or not a corrected serve or wrong

call affected the return. In that

case, I think Ramos is absolutely

right, the umpire.

I don't know, what can you say?

Exactly.

That is ridiculous.

You run

out of things to say. It is so good

all the time. The winners just keep

on piling up. One is as good as the

other.

19 winners name. Precision.

14 in the first set. A first set he

won 6-1. Andy got less than a third

of his first serves. -- and he got

less than.

That's amazing. It can be a lonely

place, a tennis court, one-on-one.

Semifinal, in front of millions of

people. You have got to dig deep.

Chung has got to have faith in his

ability to turn this around. Easier

said than done.

said than done.

This is the guy that

has beaten Novak Djokovic during

this tournament.

And not only Novak Djokovic. He has

beaten Zverev.

beaten Zverev. That was 6-0 in the

fifth set. He came from two sets to

one down. He beat Medvedev. And the

other Zverev.

If you pull out before the event,

you can keep have your prize money.

-- half. A masterclass. One set and

4-1.

4-1. Is this a level tank or a heel

injury? Row we have seen this

before. -- is this a left ankle. We

saw it at Wimbledon last year. We

were not really noticing Marin Cilic

in last year's Wimbledon final.

Exactly.

That is ingrained in the

skin. There will be an under

wrapping. They will spread.

Lovely.

After a long medical time-out, he

resumed, but still clearly in pain.

Certainly filling pressure in this

match, why wouldn't you, with Roger

Federer down the other end.

Federer down the other end. The real

pressure he felt in his career

before this was when he was

competing in the Asian games in the

doubles in 2014.

doubles in 2014. What was on the

line that was at -- was if they won

the gold medal, him and his partner,

they would be exempt from the

mandatory 21 month military service.

They won!

They won! So he only did for weeks

in the military.

in the military.

Theoretically, it

could have ended his career.

Absolutely. He said he would not

possibly have played this

tournament. He could have been in

the military, doing press ups. Well

done, sir.

Given the state of the Korean

Peninsula at the moment and of the

tensions, being in the South Korean

military is a testing position, I

would have thought. There we are. He

is here now.

These Swedes used to do military

service. And Israeli players would

spend a year in the defence forces.

He didn't move very well there, did

he?

he?

The older man, by 15 years,

schooling Hyeon Chung.

Hyeon Chung of South Korea, trying

to be the first player to reach a

Grand Slam final on seeded since

Tsonga here, ten years ago. -- not

seeded. He just

seeded. He just came up short

against Cilic in the other

semifinal.

semifinal. Oh no. That is too bad.

He has had the most, he has had the

most wonderful tournament. But about

to go down two sets to love macro.

Roger Federer emerges from the

semifinal and will have a repeat of

the Wimbledon final as he takes on

Marin Cilic on Sunday morning. We

look forward to that. What a shame,

the man who beat Alex macro --

Zverev, the fourth seed, the man who

beat Novak Djokovic and Medvedev,

next generation players, unable to

continue. Brilliant tournament. Take

a bow Hyeon Chung of South Korea. He

has put his country's tennis very

much

has put his country's tennis very

much on the map.

Roger, I think I can speak for all

of us when I say we are all stunned

at how this match concluded. I just

want to get your take on how the

match was going for you prior to

this abrupt ending?

Well, I thought

the first set was, let's say, kind

of normal. I couldn't tell what was

going on with my opponent. I guess I

was too focused on trying to protect

the lead, to be honest. In the

second set I started to freely was

getting slower, playing with the

blister. I know he has had a problem

with the for some time. You don't

know how bad it is, really. I have

played with blisters in the past a

lot, and it hurts a lot. Add a

certain point you can't take it any

more. There is no way you can come

back. It is better to stop. That is

why this feels bittersweet. I'm

incredibly happy to be in the

finals, but not like this. And he

has played such a wonderful

tournament. Credit to him for trying

so hard today again.

You had never

played against Hyeon Chung before.

He has had a remarkable start to his

2018. A revelation to so many. Now

that you have plagued him for a

little bit, I would like to get your

take on what the future holds for

him and what he may accomplish in

this sport?

Just alone his attitude,

you couldn't tell he had a problem

until the end. I could tell

something was wrong before he took

the injury time-out. He has great

composure. I think he is going to

be... He is already a great player.

I think we are talking about next

level excellence. We will see much

more of him. Top ten for sure. The

rest we will see. I don't want to

put too much pressure on him. But he

has done very well. I can see why

you'd be the likes of Novak Djokovic

and Sasha and all the others this

week and in the past. -- why he

beat.

Year ago you came into this

tournament and you had 17 majors,

more than any man has. Now you are

one match away from getting to 20 if

you can beat Marin Cilic in the

final.

final. What would you have said if I

had told you that is where you would

be one year from last year when you

start this tournament?

Nice joke,

Jim! Good joke, sir. Seriously, no,

I wouldn't be thinking this way. I

know how hard it is to win on the

play, I know how hard it is to win

any Major. It doesn't come around so

easily. I was fighting so hard for

so many years, and ran into Novak

and Rafa and so many good players.

They blocked me for a while. I don't

want to say I gave up hope but I

would have been happy with one more

major. I would have taken that. Here

we are, two more, maybe a third. One

match away. Let's see what happens.

We will look ahead now to Sunday

night. A rematch of the Wimbledon

final against Marin Cilic. He has

also beaten you at the US Open. You

know the dangers that he possesses.

What do you need to do well in that

match to get by? What does he bring

to the table that can worry you?

We

saw it against Rafa and we saw it

again last night against Kyle

Edmund. He brings the power. He

brings basically everything. He is a

really nice guy. He had a similar

problem that Chung had, in the

Wimbledon final, playing with a

blister. Having two days off will

help them. We will see a fresh and

ready Marin Cilic this time. On this

kind of a court you have to play

aggressive. He can bring the power.

I'm sure he believes if he has come

this far, it it means he is feeling

good. He crushed me and that US Open

final. Thanks for the memories! He

beat me badly. I'm excited to play

against him. He is a great guy. We

won the labour couple together. We

had a blast. We played together on

vacation, believe it or not, in the

Maldives a couple of months ago.

I

didn't get my invitation, it's OK.

It was just the two of us. We were

both looking for a hitting partner.

We were both there. It was the

weirdest thing. I told him that

practising in the tropicals helped

us to get to the final this time

around. It was very cool. I can't

wait.

We can't wait either. Roger

Federer going for a number 20 on

Sunday night.

There he is. What an entertaining

and to a disappointing semifinal.

Well done Jim Courier. Federer

through to another major final in a

match lasting just one hour and two

minutes. Such a shame that blisters

prevented Chung from being at his

best. Ironic that it was blisters

that prevented Marin Cilic from

being at his best in Wimbledon last

year. Hopefully that will not be the

case on Sunday and we will have a

final to savour. You can see it with

us on BBC Two. John Lloyd and Andrew

Castle have joined me. Andrew,

listening to Federer yesterday, he

said he has never played this guy,

he will watch where he serves, what

he does. He found the winning

formula?

He doesn't take many cues.

You can see coverage of people in

many ways now. He would have watched

the Djokovic match. Engaged the

mind, think about his opponent. And

then played a brilliant first 15

minutes of the match and absolutely

put him away. It is extraordinary.

Federer wants to play with youthful

exuberance. I once asked him what it

was like to have so much experience,

and he said, sometimes I don't want

all that experience. I know the

mistakes I can make. Sometimes I

want to go out there and feel the

ball. He is beginning to do that

again. In fact, he did do it again

in the one hour of that match. It

was quite fabulous to watch. Yes, he

is studious. What an execution of an

opponent and a game plan.

He's

getting older but he is moving

better all the time, isn't he?

Yeah,

it is unbelievable. I would defy

anybody to look at the table of him

in his 20s and say he is not moving

as well. Now at 36 he is moving

better than then! He has added

things to his game. That is

remarkable. Today he was just

brilliant. His shotmaking ability.

They were a couple of points in this

group we have where Chung managed to

get him to feed behind the baseline.

Other than that he was hugging the

baseline. It was almost like Agassi.

He stood in there and moved his

opponent around side to side and

took his legs away, literally.

One

moment you serve to him, next you

play a half-volley and he's on the

offensive. We haven't seen too many

backends. Look at this. This is

heading into big open spaces. It is

too good. Look at this. I'm sorry,

but he will not see anything better

than that on a tennis court. He is

delighted, mum is proud, and if I

was Cilic I would be concerned. He

hasn't lost a set yet. He has done

this before.

He is doing it all the

time now. When he had six months off

with a back injury, he said he would

be more aggressive, keep the point

shorter. He sees the ball so well.

Exactly. When people say what is

your game plan against Federer?

There isn't one. What do you do with

his backhand down the line. If it

was a slight weakness in the old

days, it was a slight weakness, now

it is one of his main strengths.

Absolutely brilliant.

Briefly talk

about Hyeon Chung. A big future. He

has proved a lot?

Very impressed

with his ground strokes and how they

were making Federer do things that

he didn't want to do. I thought this

could get close, even though Federer

won the opening exchanges. He will

be around for a long time. Him and

Edmund, the big story.

In Melbourne,

although there were injuries, the

two youngsters in the semifinals

were given a bit of a tennis lesson,

Chung today and Kyle Edmund

yesterday. A hip injury hampered his

play. He has a race to get fit for

the Davis cup next week. It has been

an impressive run by the

23-year-old. He has been talking to

Russell Fuller.

In the short term I'm disappointed.

I have to accept that. I didn't get

my best out on court, for sure. But

there are so many positives that I

think override the whole two weeks

that I have to focus on that and be

really pleased with what I have done

at the start of the year.

Was it a

hip problem?

Yes. It is a relevant

right now. When you get in this

environment in the latter stage of a

Grand Slam, you get the bug, you

want more, you get greedy. It gives

you more determination to get it

right next time. I can handle it

better and know what to expect.

Yeah, in the short term I have got a

problem with my hip. But it is what

it is. Next week I want to be in

Marbella playing.

The fortnight as a

whole, some up the experience to

suddenly find yourself in the public

eye, all sorts of articles and radio

programmes being devoted to you?

Yeah, it's been amazing, really.

It's been anything from me to try

and keep focused and keep playing

tennis. That is what got me there.

Yeah, it is a good problem to have

at the end of the day. I think it is

just good. If I continue to go up

the rankings, you will get more and

more. You have to learn to embrace

it.

This opens a few doors for you.

Your ranking will be 25. You don't

have to worry about qualifying

again. You will be a seed of the

Grand Slams in the near future?

Yeah, that is true. It is good to

see your ranking go up. It shows you

are improving. Sony positives. The

ranking is good, but to reach this

stage of a Grand Slam, that is where

tennis is for me. It is where you

want to do well. It is a true test

to play these best of five set

matches and come Wright at the end a

winner. That is when you know you

have earned it. That is the

challenge from me, to do it for

several matches -- seven matches

now, not five.

The Davis cup captain

will be worried, Leon Smith. He

needs: next week, doesn't he?

Boy,

does he ever! It will be a tough

match whatever happens. If Kyle

doesn't play, it will be mission

impossible. He should enjoy the

challenge, going up against two very

good players away on clay.

What a

great experience. Absolutely.

Listening to him there. The ranking.

That is important, to get yourself

into the bigger tournaments, not

rushing around on the lesser

tournaments?

Yes, he has hobbled

around this before. When he was 40,

he was getting into Indian Wells and

Monte Carlo. But yes, certainly he

is up there now. Being seeded he has

a chance of going into the third

round of Grand Slam championships. I

personally agree with John. 16

should be seeded, not 32. It will

make a big difference. The attention

he gets, it will be difficult to see

how he handles it. He is very shy,

self-effacing. He doesn't embrace

the limelight. He just wants to play

tennis. His development is on a

different plane. I think you will

handle it OK. This apprenticeship as

last few years. He has been the

coming month few years.

He will have

to handle the limelight because it

is part of the job description now,

isn't it? You have to play the media

game as well.

You do. The good thing

for him is he has been around Andy

Murray quite a lot. He will have

seen the attention that Andy Murray

has got in Davis cups and other

things. He has seen how he has

handled it. Which has been superb.

He will not be on that level yet.

But in Britain now, they look at

Kyle Edmund and think he's the next

one. He will have to deal with it.

I think he will handle it fine.

We

have been talking about youngsters

making a name for themselves. Here's

another. 17-year-old Aidan McCue has

become the first British player to

reach the junior semifinal since a

certain Kyle Edmund in 2013. He has

been signed by Andy Murray's agency

and the former world number one is

acting as his mentor. He dropped the

first set against his opponent and

was leading in the second set when

the rain came down. He went on to

take the second set. Sadly, he lost

the final set 6-4.

Having Andy Murray in your corner at

the age of 17, that is not bad, is

it?

Can you imagine?! Goodies that?

He has got Andy around, he is

playing Grand Slam events. He is

there for the second week, he sees

how the professionals are, see is

what it is all about. What a

fabulous apprenticeship.

It gets you

into a competitive mindset doesn't

it? It shows you what the future may

hold?

Absolutely. Success breeds

success. How to play matters, win

matches, how to eat, to train. The

example of success is something you

can't replicate in any the way.

Katie Swann, Emilia Appelqvist...

Willian of any time to play again?

Once we know more about the recovery

from his hip operation, we will know

more. From the juniors to the

seniors there is no guarantee. While

we congratulate Aidan, the

transition to the senior game is

notoriously difficult to bridge.

Whether it is a good idea to go out

and play professional event and get

hammered for a few years, or whether

it is best to even now pursue an

American college career, that is

still a debate that you have to have

with your family and your loved ones

and with people like Gandhi.

Andy

will probably make the decision.

Another result to bring you.

More disappointment for Britain.

Looking ahead to tomorrow, it is the

ladies final. While Federer is

chasing his 20th Grand Slam title,

Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki

are bidding for their first. The

winner will be world number one. Not

much at stake than! Andrew, you talk

about the changing face of the men's

game. What is happening in the women

plus -- women's? Three over the last

four finals been between women

bidding for their first title.

Some

of the women's matches from the

quarterfinal, they have outshone the

men in this particular tournament.

The women's tour have got these two

fellow -- fabulous athlete into the

final. One and two in the world.

After all the talk and debate. All

the chat is over and it comes down

to this. They are superb athletes.

Old counterpunches. They could be

running a marathon. I know that

Caroline has done one before. Both

of these players, who can get on the

front foot? Both supremely fit. I

think it is a great advert for the

game.

It really is. Testing rallies

we are going to see. Caroline

Wozniacki suffers from nerves.

We

are going to have lots of long

rallies but it is who is going to

control the nerves. I am going with

Halep. It is great one of them is

finally going to win a Grand Slam

title. It is going to be a nervous

final.

Looking forward to it. You

can see it on BBC One at 1:15pm

tomorrow. Plenty of other sports to

look forward to here on the BBC.

That is it from us. We will be back

tomorrow. Thank you to Andrew and to

John. Well we have marvelled at the

youngsters making their mark in

Melbourne, one grandmaster stands

head and shoulders above the rest.

At the age of 36 Roger Federer gets

better and better.

Goodbye.

# FLEETWOOD MAC: Albatross.

What a player!