Australian Open 2020: Barty, Kenin, and Djokovic cruise into the semi-finals while Federer survives Sandgren scare
Roger Federer survived no less than seven match points before making his way into the semifinals of the Australian 2020, while Ashleigh Barty, Sofia Kenin, and Novak Djokovic sailed through to the last four without dropping a set.
Federer, who had earlier been involved in a classic five-setter against John Millman in the third round, took the first set against Tennys Sandgren but allowed the 28-year-old American to take control of the match in the second and third sets before engineering an epic comeback with a 6-3, 2-6, 2-6, 7-6, 6-3 win.
The third seed, who won two consecutive Australian Open titles in 2017 and 2018, will now aim for his seventh crown at Melbourne Park but needs to get past defending champion, Djokovic, in the semi-finals.
The Serbian, who has been in outstanding form over the last nine days, outplayed 29-year-old Canadian, Milos Raonic, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 in two hours and 50 minutes.
In the women's quarter-final, Kenin displayed her class against Tunisian, Ons Jabeur. The 21-year-old American took just over an hour-and-a-half to storm into her first Grand Slam semi-final with a 6-4, 6-4 scoreline.
Top-seed Barty got past Petra Kvitova in the other women's quarter-final of the day. Kvitova, seeded seventh, lost the first set 6-7 and was completely outplayed in the second, going down 2-6.
Barty had lost to her Czech rival in the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park last year but was too good on the day, much to the delight of the Australian fans, who will now be hoping that the 23-year-old carries the momentum into the semi-finals, where she will face Kenin.
In the women's doubles quarter-finals, top-seeds Hsieh Su-Wei and Barbora Strycova got the better of Jennifer Brady and Caroline Dolehide to set up a last-four meeting with Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova.
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