Tennis:Roger Federer made a quick dash into an eighth straight Australian Open semi-final this morning but Caroline Wozniacki was forced to go the distance to reach her first in the women's draw after surviving a tough battle with French Open champion Francesca Schiavone.
Wozniacki, under huge pressure to vindicate her number one ranking with a maiden major title, found herself a set and a break down to Schiavone before rallying win 3-6 6-3 6-3.
The 20-year-old will play Li Na for a place in her first Australian Open final after the ninth seed from China sealed her place in the last four for a second year in a row with a commanding 6-2 6-4 victory over Andrea Petkovic.
With 16 grand slam titles to his name, Federer has nothing left to prove to anyone - least of all that he is the best player in Switzerland - and the defending champion outclassed compatriot Stansilas Wawrinka 6-1 6-3 6-3 with a dazzling all-court game.
Second seed Federer, who is gunning for his fifth Australian Open title, first defused Wawrinka's serve before picking him apart with his full repertoire of shots to set up a last four meeting with Novak Djokovic.
"I think it was a good match for me," Federer said. "For some reason, I was able to return him well. On my own service games I was really good, too. I think that really set the tone for a good match for me."
Wawrinka said he was playing the best tennis of his life going into the first grand slam quarter-final between two Swiss players but mustered up only one ace compared to the 24 he fired down against Andy Roddick in the fourth round.
"It wasn't an easy match for him," Federer added. "The scoreline suggests maybe it was easier than it looked like. He really got into the match, especially in the second set. But I was able to mix it up well and just keep him on his toes."
Djokovic powered into the semi-finals after beating Tomas Berdych in straight sets. The third seed won 6-1 7-6 (7/5) 6-1 in two hours and 32 minutes. Djokovic was 4-1 down in the second set but hit back to take it to the breaker which he won to break Berdych’s spirit. The first and third were more straightforward.
Djokovic broke for a 2-1 lead early on and then again for 5-1 as the Czech struggled to find his range. But, after saving two break points early in the second, Berdych started to fire. He established a 4-1 lead and seemed to be on his way to levelling it up.
But Djokovic hit back to cancel out the break and, with the roof now closed due to the threat of showers, it went to the breaker. A mini-break was claimed by each player before the world number three struck again on set point. And with that the momentum was firmly with Djokovic and he broke twice in the third to cruise through.
Wozniacki nearly paid the price for her lack of aggression in a lively contest against Schiavone, who bounded around the court to take the game to the top seed from the very start on Rod Laver Arena.
Despite having less than 48 hours to recover from her four hour, 44 minute victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova, Schiavone hit 14 winners to one for the Dane to claim the first set before racing to a 3-1 lead in the second.
The 30-year-old, however, handed a break back with four straight errors and Wozniacki rattled off the next six games to take control of the match, sealing her victory on her fourth match point when the sixth seed flunked her 46th unforced error.
The Dane brought a yellow, inflatable kangaroo into the post-match press conference, given to her by local media after she apologised for concocting a story about being scratched by a joey in a visit to a park outside of Melbourne.
There was little levity when she was asked about Li, who is on a 10-match winning streak and beat her easily in the quarter-finals of last year's tournament.
"I think Li Na has improved a lot, but I also believe I have," she said. "I know that she can play very good tennis, but I can too. It's just a matter of who wins the most important points in that match."