Top seed Roger Federer [Images] survived a testing examination from Russian fifth seed Nikolay Davydenko before winning 6-4, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6 to reach the Australian Open [Images] semi-finals on Wednesday.
The world number one was pushed all the way by Davydenko but his sublime skills and unrivalled ability to raise his game when it matters enabled the Swiss master to book his place in the last four against German Nicolas Kiefer.
Federer was pushed to five sets in his fourth round match with Tommy Haas and it briefly looked as though he might have to go the full distance again after the Russian pinched the second set and served for the third.
But Federer broke back when he needed to and then saved six set points before taking the third set in a tiebreak and then won the fourth in another tiebreak to remain on course for his second Australian Open crown.
© Copyright 2008 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.
|