Seventeenth seed Roger Federer reached his first Grand Slam final in 16 months with a 7-5, 6-3, 1-6, 4-6, 6-3 win over Swiss compatriot Stan Wawrinka in the semi-final of the Australian Open on Thursday. Federer survived a spirited comeback from fourth seed Wawrinka, who sent the match into the fifth set after cancelling out the 17-time Grand Slam champion’s two-set advantage.
At two-sets down, Wawrinka’s problems seemed to have escalated as he was forced to take a medical timeout with what looked like a troublesome. He emerged with a tape around his knee, but did not seem to be in much discomfort. The timeout seemed to have done wonders as he broke Federer thrice in a row to take the next two sets. Federer was making a lot of unforced errors and Wawrinka capitalised on his opponent’s lack of focus.
Wawrinka had a break point in the fifth with the duo level at 2-2. Federer, though, fended off the challenge to hold serve. Federer rode on the momentum and broke Wawrinka in the next game to earn make a comeback into the match. He held his nerve to close out the set and seal the match after a marathon five-setter.
