{"id":8032,"date":"2013-01-23T13:24:00","date_gmt":"2013-01-23T13:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ghana-mma.com\/2013\/01\/australian-open-federer-for-semi-final-as-teenager-stephens-stops-serena\/"},"modified":"2013-01-23T13:24:00","modified_gmt":"2013-01-23T13:24:00","slug":"australian-open-federer-for-semi-final-as-teenager-stephens-stops-serena","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2013\/01\/23\/australian-open-federer-for-semi-final-as-teenager-stephens-stops-serena\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian Open: Federer for semi-final, as teenager Stephens stops Serena"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

MELBOURNE \u2013 Roger Federer passed a five-set test from Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Wednesday to set up an Australian Open semi-final with Andy Murray, as Serena Williams was shocked by teenager Sloane Stephens.<\/p>\n

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 semi-final.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a tough close for sure, but the whole match was tough,\u201d he said. \u201cAny set could have gone either way. It\u2019s tough because you never know what Jo\u2019s going to come up with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Facing Federer across the net on Friday will be Britain\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

World number one Novak Djokovic, chasing the tournament\u2019s first title hat-trick of the professional era, plays indefatigable Spaniard David Ferrer on Thursday after all four top men\u2019s seeds reached the semis.<\/p>\n

But in the women\u2019s competition, America\u2019s Stephens, 19, precipitated a result of seismic proportions when she knocked out a limping Williams 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to qualify for her first Grand Slam semi-final.<\/p>\n

Williams, unbeaten since August and on the verge of returning to world number one, had been widely expected to win her third straight major title and was even eyeing the first calendar-year Grand Slam since 1988.<\/p>\n

But the 15-time Grand Slam champion seized up with back spasms in the second set and Stephens took advantage, setting up a semi-final against defending champion Victoria Azarenka on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is so crazy,\u201d said Stephens, who once had a poster of Williams on her bedroom wall. \u201cI think I\u2019ll put a poster of myself up now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams, 31, said she was almost glad her tournament was over after rolling her ankle, whacking herself in the mouth with her racquet and finally suffering the strained back during a torrid time in Melbourne.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, my gosh, I\u2019m almost relieved that it\u2019s over because there\u2019s only so much I felt I could do\u2026 oh my gosh, it\u2019s been a little difficult. I\u2019ve been thrown a lot of balls these two weeks,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Williams won the first set but at 3-4 in the second, she pulled up with back spasms and later called for the trainer. As she served at half-pace, Stephens was eventually able to capitalise and she levelled at a set each.<\/p>\n

Williams recovered sufficiently to break in the tense decider but Stephens broke back and then broke again to claim the victory of her life.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday I just really didn\u2019t have anything to lose. I mean, you\u2019re playing for the semis of a Grand Slam. You just got to go out and do it really,\u201d Stephens said.<\/p>\n

Stephens\u2019 next opponent is Azarenka, who came through a marathon, 1hr 17min opening set against resurgent Russian veteran Kuznetsova before completing her 7-5, 6-1 triumph in 1hr 47min.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe played really well throughout the whole match,\u201d Azarenka said. \u201cAt the beginning, it took adjustment because she plays such a different game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, Murray finally reached his peak performance as he impressively sent unseeded Frenchman Chardy spinning out.<\/p>\n

Murray broke Chardy\u2019s 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 semi-final.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday was the best I\u2019ve played. I\u2019ve struggled in my last few rounds a little bit, my last opponent (Gilles Simon) was injured so it wasn\u2019t much of a match as he struggled physically,\u201d Murray said.<\/p>\n

\u201cJeremy\u2019s had a great tournament, he\u2019s beat some top players so I needed to come out sharp and get off to a good start.\u201d<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s semi will be Murray\u2019s first Grand Slam meeting with Federer since last year\u2019s Wimbledon decider, when he wept freely in defeat. Murray gained some revenge shortly afterwards by beating Federer in the Olympic final.(AFP)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Comments are moderated. Please keep them clean and brief.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MELBOURNE \u2013 Roger Federer passed a five-set test from Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Wednesday to set up an Australian Open semi-final with Andy Murray, as Serena Williams was shocked by teenager Sloane Stephens. 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), […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8032\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}