World No. 1 Roger Federer has made a mis-match of his Australian Open semi-final against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, crushing the Frenchman in less than 90 minutes at Rod Laver Arena on Friday night.
The top seed produced some of his finest tennis as he outclassed Tsonga, winning 6-2 6-3 6-2 to book his place in Sunday’s final against Andy Murray.
With only 13 unforced errors in the match, Federer’s win avenged a defeat at the hands of Tsonga in Montreal last year, and advanced him into his record-breaking 22nd Grand Slam final.
After the match, Federer admitted everything had gone his way.
“I’m very happy. In these matches you always have to deal with how your opponent plays – but sometimes they play exactly how you want.
“I just think it’s easier with the top players if you get them in the first set. It’s nice going through like this,” the 28-year-old said.
Unlike Wednesday’s quarter-final against Nikolay Davydenko, the Swiss started strongly, and was finding the line with attacking shots off both forehand and backhand from the outset.
Tsonga competed well early, but at 2-1 down in the first set, he conceded his first of five service breaks to hand Federer a 3-1 advantage. Federer negotiated some close games through the latter part of the set, but as he played almost error-free tennis, the Frenchman crumbled again at the end of the set, gifting it to Federer by a margin of 6-2.
The 10th seed looked rejuvenated at the beginning of the second set, and fired down two confidence-boosting aces in a strong service game to level at 1-1.
At 3-2 to Federer in the second, the world No. 1 again showed the gulf in class between the two, creating a break-point chance with a sublime backhand down the line and a drop shot that caught Tsonga off balance. He took the break and served to make it 5-2. Though Tsonga held comfortably, it only delayed the inevitable as Federer served out the set, winning it 6-3 in just 31 minutes.
Weary from two consecutive five-set encounters, Tsonga was again no match for Federer in the third set, as the Swiss again took control early with a service break in the third game. A member of the crowd humorously summed up the feeling in the stadium when he yelled, “Give him a chance, Roger!”
The world No. 1 was clearly in no mood to do so, and continued his barrage of quality winners – 33 in total - as he broke Tsonga for a second time in the set, eventually closing out the match with a 6-2 scoreline in the third.
The top seed now meets fifth seed Murray in Sunday’s final, after the Scot defeated Croatia’s Marin Cilic in four sets on Thursday night.
Fast facts
- Tsonga recorded 27 unforced errors to Federer’s 13.
- Tsonga hit five double faults, while Federer hit none.
- Federer hit 33 winners to Tsonga’s 21.
- The Swiss served at 64 per cent on first serves, and won 84 per cent of points when he landed his first ball.
