By Chris Oddo | Thursday January 26, 2017
Roger Federer booked a spot in his 28th major final by taking out Stan Wawrinka in a seesaw battle on Thursday in Melbourne.
Photo Source: Cameron Spencer/Getty
Roger Federer is back—in a big way. The Swiss Maestro weathered a long and late storm from Stan Wawrinka and eventually surged past his longtime friend and rival, 7-5, 6-3, 1-6, 4-6, 6-3 to book a record 28th Grand Slam final appearance.
More: Go Inside the Numbers of Federer vs. Wawrinka
Federer will await the winner of Friday’s semifinal between Rafael Nadal and Grigor Dimitrov in the 2017 Australian Open final.
“It was tough,” Federer told Jim Courier on court after the match concluded. “I felt like Stan had the upper hand in the fifth from the baseline, I felt like he was reading my serve well. I just knew that I had to stay in it somehow, and if I played aggressive and connected on a few returns then all of a sudden it could turn around.”
In a match that was contested hotly at the start, Federer gradually took control, parlaying a late break in set one into the type of mid-match confidence that has made him one of the greatest frontrunners of all-time.
Federer needed to save three break points in the opening set, but he was more efficient on serve in the second set, and when he broke Wawrinka for a 4-2 lead the No.4 seed let his frustration show by cracking a racquet on the hardcourt and then splitting it in half over his knee as he walked to his chair for good measure.
If it was designed to kickstart a Wawrinka comeback, it didn’t work. Federer won eight of his next nine service points to clinch the set and take a commanding two sets to love lead.
Looking despondent at the changeover, Wawrinka called for the trainer and briefly left the court to have his right knee looked at. He returned with some strapping below the knee, and appeared no worse for the wear as the third set began.
After a trade of holds, Wawrinka tested the knee to great results as he started to bash the ball and caught Federer on the back foot repeatedly. With Federer struggling to match the intensity of the first two sets, Wawrinka rocketed past him, reeling off five consecutive games to claim the third set.
The fourth was much closer, but Wawrinka blew it open in the ninth game when he broke with a forehand winner and consolidated to force a decider.
It was looking like Federer was in deep trouble, and when he went off court for a medical timeout of his own, it was hard to imagine him coming back into the match, which had been hijacked by Wawrinka’s brute force and inspired strokes for the last two sets.
But lo and behold, Federer’s injury (later revealed to be an upper leg issue) was not a limiting factor, and after he weathered some early fire from Wawrinka and saved a break point in the third and fifth games of the set, he got the dip in form that he badly needed from Wawrinka. Two unforced errors helped Federer earn a double-break point and Wawrinka committed the ultimate sin by double-faulting the game way on the next point to gift Federer the 4-2 lead.
From there, with Wawrinka reeling and Federer surging once again, the 35-year-old won eight of his last nine service points, clinching the match at the three hour and four minute mark on Wawrinka’s 35th unforced error of the night.
Federer improves to 26-20 in five-setters for his career, and 14-0 against Wawrinka on hard courts.
With his win Federer becomes the oldest male Grand Slam finalist since then 39-year-old Ken Rosewall played the 1974 U.S. Open final.