Basketball Betting

Federer will face Tsonga in Aussie Open semis

Tennis Betting Lines

01/27/2010 - Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roger Federer looked rattled after losing the first set of his Australian Open quarterfinal against Russian Nikolay Davydenko, but the legend of the super Swiss took over in a big way and the world's No. 1 player is now into his record 23rd consecutive Grand Slam semifinal. Federer's final four opponent will be charismatic Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

"It's incredible looking back on how many years that is now, you know, I'm able to deliver at Grand Slam play, especially, you know, this year," Federer said of his remarkable Grand Slam semifinal streak.

Federer overcame the sixth-seeded Davydenko 2-6, 6-3, 6-0, 7-5, while a 10th- seeded Tsonga outlasted and ousted an ailing third-seeded Novak Djokovic 7-6 (10-8), 6-7 (5-7), 1-6, 6-3, 6-1. Djokovic captured his lone major title here two years ago by beating Tsonga in the 2008 final.

The Federer-Davydenko match had its share of momentum shifts. Federer initially had his hands full and was down two quick breaks in the first set, but turned it around in the second and third with an epic 13-game run to take command of the match. He then held on in a tenuous fourth set that lasted nearly an hour.

The 28-year-old Federer is the men's all-time leader with 15 major titles and currently holds the Wimbledon and French Open crowns. With an injured Rafael Nadal being bounced out of the tournament, Federer, perhaps, has an even better shot at gaining his fourth Aussie Open title. He has been to the semifinals at every Grand Slam since being knocked out in the third round of the 2004 French Open.

The three-time Aussie Open titlist Federer lost to Nadal in last year's Melbourne finale.

Davydenko had won the previous two meetings after losing his first 12 against Federer. The 28-year-old Russian stunned Federer at the exclusive eight-player ATP World Tour Finals back in November, and also surprised the Swiss superstar at an Aussie Open tune-up event in Doha earlier this month.

The speedy Davydenko, who had won his previous 13 matches, was in prime position for his first semifinal berth in Melbourne, but it all fell apart starting in the second set.

A total of 17 unforced errors in the opening set came from Federer, who seemed taken aback by Davydenko's aggressive play, especially off the top-ranked player's serve.

A bathroom break at the end of the first set didn't help Federer. He fell behind 1-3 in the second, but then saved a couple break points in the ensuing game and held serve. That started the run of 13 straight games won, during which Davydenko looked liked a player who was ranked outside the top 100 instead of a stalwart still trying to reach his first Grand Slam final.

Federer broke at love for a 5-3 lead and didn't give up a point in the ensuing service game to square the match.

The third set was sheer domination for Federer. He had just two unforced errors to 14 for Davydenko during the stanza.

By getting within 2-1 in the fourth set, Davydenko was able to win his first game in more than an hour. He then won three straight games for a 4-3 lead and saw a golden opportunity go awry by failing on three consecutive break-point chances when Federer was down 0-40 in the eighth game.

Davydenko was then broken for a 5-4 Federer lead, but the Russian bounced right back, fighting off a match point with a backhand winner. Another backhand passing shot tied it after 10 games.

The gritty Davydenko saved three break points in the next game, including one on a challenge when replays showed Federer's return was long by just millimeters as tension filled the air at Rod Laver Arena. But on the fourth break point chance, Davydenko's forehand return clipped the top of the net and went long.

Federer was then able to close the match with a dominating serve, finishing the encounter with a solid forehand winner.

"Again, again, again, like the same what was happen last time in Grand Slam," Davydenko said after the disappointing setback. "Have chance and I didn't realize, and I lost."

"Bad luck. Go home tomorrow, relax," the Russian added.

Federer's victory ensures that the Swiss great will be ranked No. 1 on Monday, his 268th week on top, tying Jimmy Connors for the third-longest mark in history. Only Pete Sampras (286) and Ivan Lendl (270) have been No. 1 for more weeks.

In Wednesday's quarterfinal nightcap, Tsonga let Djokovic know that he was in for a match by capturing the opening set via tiebreak at Laver. But Djokovic returned the favor by claiming a second-set tiebreak when a Tsonga groundstroke missed long.

The third set was all Djokovic, as the talented Serb rolled in a mere seven games, but the tide would shift in the fourth when Djokovic fell ill. The Serbian star called for a trainer while trailing 0-2 in the stanza and actually left the court at one point in order to vomit. Djokovic has had a history of physical problems at majors, including last year here at Melbourne Park, when he retired during a quarterfinal match against Andy Roddick.

A struggling Djokovic, perhaps conserving some energy for he fifth set, basically conceded the fourth to Tsonga on Day 10, as he gave very little effort in falling behind 0-5 in the stanza. But the athletic Serb then surprised most by winning three straight games. Tsonga, however, would hold to win the set by holding his serve in the ninth game.

Tsonga pounced on Djokovic by opening the final set with a break, and then held for a 2-0 lead.

The 22-year-old Djokovic fought off a pair of break points in the third game to pull within 1-2, but the hard-hitting Frenchman moved out to a comfortable 4-1 advantage by again breaking the Serb, who coughed up the fifth game with an untimely double fault, propelling Tsonga towards the finish line.

Tsonga converted on his first match point two games later, as one final Djokovic forehand missed the court and Tsonga broke the Serb for the win en route to his second career major semifinal, both of which have come here in Melbourne.

An elated Tsonga, who piled up 19 aces and a whopping eight service breaks, moved on in 3 hours, 52 minutes. Djokovic managed six breaks of Tsonga's quality serve, but he also hurt his own chances with nine double faults.

The 24-year-old Tsonga is now 5-2 lifetime against Djokovic, including wins in five of their last six matchups.

On Friday, Tsonga will face Federer for a third time, with both players claiming previous wins. They've never met in a Grand Slam event.

The other men's semifinal will be staged here on Thursday, with fifth-seeded Andy Murray taking on 14th-seeded Croat Marin Cilic, who dismantled Murray at last year's U.S. Open. Murray was the 2008 U.S. Open runner-up to Federer.