Grand Slam champion Roger Federer has beaten Wimbledon champion Andy Murray 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (6/8), 6-3 on Wednesday in the quarter finals of Australian Open. The play went on for three hours 20 minutes on Rod Laver Arena. The match was largely dominated by Federer who now trails Murray 11-10.
After the match, Federer commented that Andy did well. He felt better than previous year and expressed confidence in his movement. Federer said that his work of last four months has paid off and he reached the semis now.
Just a day after Novak Djokovic’s shocking exit from his three-year-old Melbourne reign, Rafael Nadal narrowly avoided getting out of the tournament on Wednesday .The Spaniard admitted that he was lucky as he emerged winner with 3-6, 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (9/7), 6-2 scores against 22-year-old Bulgarian, Grigor Dimitrov.
Currently seeded sixth, Federer will be clashing with his arch-rival Rafael Nadal in semi-finals on Friday. This is Nadal’s 22nd Grand Slam semi-final and Federer’s 11th consecutive semi-final at Melbourne Park. Murray has lost for first time in five quarter-finals at the Australian Open.
Nadal had blisters on his left hand which had to be treated by a trainer in the quarter-finals. It remains to be seen if it hinders, or halts, his match in the semi-finals.