Fed up against Murray
Roger Federer passed a five-set test from Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Wednesday to set up an Australian Open semifinal with Andy Murray.
The great Swiss needed all his coolness and concentration as he was twice pegged back from a set lead before taking it 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 3-6, 6-3, reaching his 33rd Grand Slam semifinal.
Facing Federer across the net on Friday will be Britain's US Open champion Andy Murray, who hit top gear in his 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 win over unseeded Jeremy Chardy and is into the last four without dropping a set.
World number one Novak Djokovic, chasing the tournament's first title hat-trick of the professional era, plays indefatigable Spaniard David Ferrer on Thursday after all four top men's seeds reached the
Elsewhere, Murray finally reached his peak performance as he impressively sent unseeded Frenchman Chardy spinning out.
Murray broke Chardy's service eight times and played a clean match with 32 winners against 20 unforced errors, as he extended his Grand Slam winning streak to 12 matches and reached his 12th major semifinal.
"Today was the best I've played. I've struggled in my last few rounds a little bit, my last opponent [Gilles Simon] was injured so it wasn't much of a match as he struggled physically," Murray said.
"Jeremy's had a great tournament, he's beat some top players so I needed to come out sharp and get off to a good start."
Friday's semi will be Murray's first Grand Slam meeting with Federer since last year's Wimbledon decider, when he wept freely in defeat. Murray gained some revenge shortly afterwards by beating Federer in the Olympic final.
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