Federer eases into semis, Wozniacki toils

Roger Federer made a quick dash into an eighth straight Australian Open semi-final on Tuesday but Caroline Wozniacki was forced to go the distance to reach her first.

Wozniacki, under huge pressure to vindicate her number one ranking with a maiden major title, found herself a set and a break down to Francesca Schiavone before rallying to overcome the tiring French Open champion 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 seeded Chinese sealed her place in the last four for a second year in a row with a commanding 6-2 6-4 victory over German 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 or Thomas Berdych.

“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 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.”

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.

Difficult Player

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 46^th unforced error.

“She’s a very difficult player to play against because she’s mixing it up quite a bit and she knows how to slice,” said the Dane.

“She’s playing with a big topspin. She goes to the net quite a bit as well. So it’s very difficult, but I managed to keep my head cool, and it worked out.”

Schiavone, who is projected to move up to a career high fourth in the world after her run at Melbourne Park, admitted the gruelling fourth-round marathon had affected her.

“But I had my chance anyway,” she said. “Maybe in the third set I felt a little bit something physically, but it’s not an excuse. I think I gave the best that I could.”

Li stuttered early in both sets but was just too strong for Petkovic, hammering her flat groundstrokes deep into the court and sealing her 10^th straight victory in 80 minutes.

Petkovic conceded she had been outclassed in her first grand slam quarter-final before declaring the big-hitting 28-year-old her favourite to claim the year’s first major title.

“I certainly didn’t play as well as the last matches, but it was a nice experience,” said the 23-year-old German.

“I think she played really well. I think she’s going to win the tournament.

“I don’t want to put pressure on her obviously,” she added. “It’s just a feeling. Sometimes you get the feeling during the match that somebody is really strong and just has that confidence going on, that aura maybe.”

Li, who beat Kim Clijsters in the final to win the Sydney warm-up, lost to eventual champion Serena Williams in the semis a year ago but is hoping to claim China’s first grand slam title this year.

“I hope I can win the tournament,” said Li. “But if I want to win tournament, I still have two steps I need to make. It’s always easy to say something.”