The Australian Open is down to four men, one former Slam winner will be in the final and one player will be experiencing his first action in a Grand Slam final, that much we know for certain.Roger Federer (1) v Andy Roddick (6)
It was the expected semi-final, and so we have it. Roger Federer arrives at this stage of the tournament without losing a set, unsurprisingly, but unusually has been broken 12 times in his 5 matches. The statistic is not alarming, but surprising nonetheless. Federer has not been at his best thus far, but history shows he plays his best at this stage of Grand Slams and an improved performance versus Roddick is what is to be expected in comparison to his previous matches. Federer has made 11 consecutive Grand Slam semi-finals and will be looking to make his 7th consecutive Slam final.
Federer is in search of his 10th Grand Slam title and should he be victorious this week, so will follow endless talk in the media and fans alike about whether he will win all four Grand Slams this year.
Andy Roddick was given a first round scare against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, trailing by a set and a break, before turning the match around to win in 4 sets. Since then, Roddick has been in excellent form, with significant wins over Marat Safin and Mario Ancic, as well as destroying Mardy Fish in the quarter-finals in a match that was as one sided as you will ever see in the last eight of a Grand Slam. Since teaming up with Jimmy Connors, Roddick’s career has been re-ignited off the back of a poor first half of the season in 2006. The evidence of this was shown during the US Open, where Roddick reached the final before losing to Federer. The American has been broken 8 times in his 5 matches, with 7 of those breaks coming against Safin and Ancic.
Roddick reached the last four in Melbourne in 2003 and 2005, making this his 3rd appearance at the semi-final stage of the Australian Open.
The history between the two suggests only one winner. Federer dominates the head to head with a staggering 12-1 record dating back to 2001. 4 of those meetings were in Grand Slam events, with Federer victorious each time. Roddick’s sole win against Federer came in 2003 at the Montreal Masters by virtue of a deciding set tie-break. Amongst Federer’s 12 victories, Roddick has managed to win only 4 sets. Another crucial stat in Federer’s favour is the tie-break history; the world number one is 8-1 in tie-breaks against the big serving American.
Roddick came as close as you can to recording his 2nd career victory over Federer at the Masters Cup in Shanghai at the back end of 2006. Roddick was unable to convert match points in the 2nd set tie-break and went on to lose 6-4 in the 3rd. Preceding the Australian Open was the often star studded line up at Kooyong (exhibition), where Roddick secured a moral boosting victory against Federer. How much impact that result will have on the semi-final is open for debate, at the very least it was a much needed boost for Roddick. But it would be unwise to assume that Roddick is now destined to follow up that exhibition victory with another in Melbourne, based purely on that result.
Tommy Haas (12) v Fernando Gonzalez (10)
Hands up those of you who picked this semi-final?
I don’t see any hands.
Both Tommy Haas and Fernando Gonzalez are good players, but others were favoured to reach the last four in the bottom half of the draw, like Rafael Nadal, Nikolay Davydenko or David Nalbandian. Haas put paid to both Nalbandian and Davydenko, in four and five sets, respectively. Haas even saved match point versus Davydenko in the 5th set, having recovered from a 2 sets to 1 deficit. Gonzalez produced the performance of the tournament to date, by obliterating Nadal in straight sets. Gonzalez was equally as impressive against Lleyton Hewitt, but was stretched to 4 sets in that meeting. Gonzalez’s biggest test in the tournament came against highly touted Argentine youngster, Juan Martin Del Potro, in the 2nd round. The Chilean trailed by 2 sets to 1 before eventually outlasting his younger South American opponent who was forced to retire during the 5th set.
Fernando Gonzalez became one of only six active players to reach at least the quarter-finals of all 4 Grand Slams; his appearance in the last four in Melbourne is the furthest he has been in a Slam. Tommy Haas will play in his 3rd Slam semi-final; his previous two semi-finals were also in Melbourne in 1999 and 2002.
The winner will be making their first appearance in a Grand Slam final and it remains to be seen which player will be able to handle that pressure and expectation in order to produce their best tennis and move on for a chance at lifting the title.
There is little history between the two, having only met on one occasion in 2004 on clay during the World Team Championship. Gonzalez was the victor in straight sets, and following his excellent displays against Hewitt, Blake and Nadal will be the marginal favourite to progress.
Looking Towards The Final – Head To Head Records
Federer v Gonzalez – Federer leads the H2H 9-0, 22-2 in sets and 3-1 in TB’s.
Federer v Haas – Federer leads the H2H 7-2, 17-8 in sets, level at 2-2 in TB’s.
Roddick v Gonzalez – Roddick leads the H2H 6-3, 14-8 in sets, level at 3-3 in TB’s.
Roddick v Haas – Haas leads the H2H 5-3, 11-8 in sets, Roddick leads 3-0 in TB’s.
Sports Magician will be reviewing the Australian Open following the conclusion of the tournament. Let Sports Magician know who you feel will win the tournament and your thoughts on the 2007 Australian Open in general.
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