Australian Open 2020: Federer beats Sandgren, Djokovic thrashes Milos Raonic to reach semi-finals.
Physical pain, given a code violation for bad language and facing seven match points, Roger Federer staged one of the most remarkable survival acts of his career to stay in the Australian Open.
Federer, 38, Seven times he was on the cusp of defeat to world No 100 Tennys Sandgren, and seven times he pulled himself back to win 6-3, 2-6, 2-6, 7-6, 6-3 in three hours and 31 minutes to reach the Australian Open 2020 semi finals for the 15th time.
Raonic's first serve is into the net and an excellent two-handed return from Djokovic is so good with the Canadian sending it into the net. Match over.
The Canadian had been playing some of the best tennis of his career as he looks to return to his former heights, where he reached No 3 in the world rankings.
But Djokovic, the best returner in the world, was able to nullify that threat to storm to a routine 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(1) win.
Djokovic, 32, chasing his eighth title in Melbourne, is into the semi-finals again.
What about Federer's Clash.?
Federer got into a dispute with a line judge and the chair umpire over cursing. He left the court for a medical timeout early in the third set, then was visited by a trainer later for a right leg massage.
“What did I say?” Federer asked the chair umpire Marijana Veljovic, who replied: “I can’t repeat that”.
Federer then took a medical timeout, returning to hold serve for a 1-3 lead, but didn’t quite look right from there.
Roger Federer record at Melbourne Park, Australian
Federer has won six titles at Melbourne Park and never lost there to anyone ranked worse than 54th. But Sandgren, whose career tour-level record is under .500, played superbly. He won more points than Federer, 161-160. He produced edges of 27-5 in aces, 73-44 in total winners.
I got lucky, & I believe miracles, Federer said after the epic victory.
"You've got to get lucky sometimes I tell you that," Federer said. "Sometimes you're not under control.
"I just hoped he wouldn't smash a winner, just keep the ball in play and if he does miss one of two then see what is going through his mind.
"As the match went on I felt better and the pressure went away.
"I didn't deserve this one but I'm standing here and I'm obviously very happy."
"I believe in miracles, there could be rain, there could be other stuff. It wasn't bad enough where thought it would get worse, just sore.
Novak Djokovic vs Roger Federer: Australian Open 2020 semi-final clash
Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer will meet for the 50th time on Thursday after they both booked their place in the Australian Open semi-finals.
Serbian start has dominated over Swiss star with most wins, in the last two meetings, Federer defeated the Djokovic in the ATP Finals 2019 in GB while the Djokovic whitewashed Federer in the 2019 Wimbledon final.
Djokovic has dominated & leading the series 26-23 wins:
What Novak Djokovic said about next match against Federer.
Obviously tremendous respect for Roger, everything he has achieved in this sport and he’s been one of the all-time greats and definitely one of my two biggest rivals. I’ve been saying this many times and I’ll repeat again: The match-ups against Roger and Rafa have made me the player I am today so I’m grateful that I’ve had so many great matches against those guys. And I hope I get to at least one match point [smiling].
It’s quite amazing what he has done this on the court today and it’s not the first time he has done that in his career. That’s why he is who he is. Let the better player win.
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