Roger Federer entered the semi final in imperious form beating Juan Martin Del Potro 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 in an hour and 51 minutes.

Roger Federer in Semifinals of Australian Open 2012

Roger Federer showed his full bag of tricks – drop shots, deep slices that bite off the court, inside out forehands, finding difficult angles on court and topspin lobs that left Del Potro running back in vain.

The first set saw Federer quickly get up 3-0 before Del Potro stormed back to 4-4. The second set Federer lead 3-1 with a break and then survived four break point chances while serving for the set at 5-3 to gain a two set lead. In the third set, Federer gained two breaks to win the set and match at 6-2.

Federer was playing his 1000^th singles match and picked up a fine scalp in  Del Potro who played quite well at various times but was not as consistent on the day. Federer said that, “I knew how well Del Potro was playing recently and I was hoping to get off to a good start. I was able to mix it up and felt confident from start. So I was able to use all aspects of my game today”

Second Seed Rafael Nadal beat 7^th seed Tomas Berdych in a close four setter 6-7(5), 7-6(6), 6-4, 6-3 in four hours and 16 minutes of exciting tennis that ended around midnight. Nadal was not at his best at the start and faced multiple set points while serving down 5-6. Rafa saved the second set point after an amazing rally that left the crowd on their feet and even Rod laver enjoyed that one.

In the tie break, Nadal went up 5-3 but Berdych came up with a stinging return winner to level it up. Berdych was a little lucky with a line call at 5-5 tie break, Nadal was waiting for the call and it never came. Then the umpire ruled that Nadal was too late in challenging and the replay showed that the ball was indeed out. What should have been set point for Nadal was set point for Berdych. Berdych came up with aggressive shots to win the tie break.

The beginning of the second set saw Nadal in trouble early on facing 2 break points but he recovered and broke serve in the fourth game to lead 3-1. Nadal served for the set at 5-3 and again there was a poor line call at 15-30. Berdych broke back to 5-5 and then saved a set point at 5-6 to take the set to a tie break again. Nadal led 4-1 but Berdych again leveled it at 4-4 and gained a set point at 6-5 for a two sets to love lead. Nadal saved it with a heavy passing shot that Berdych volleyed wide.

In the third set Berdych went off to a 2-0 lead breaking Nadal’s serve but Nadal broke back at love with an excellent backhand passing shot. He broke gain to lead 3-2. Nadal let go of another set point at 5-3 on Berdych’s serve but won the set 6-4 finishing it off with an athletic overhead smash. The start of the fourth set saw Nadal break serve with a spectacular passing shot that most others would be happy to lay a racquet on. Nadal broke serve at love at 5-3 to win the match finally. Nadal’s strategy of staying 3 metres behind the baseline to receive serve proved to be flawed as Berdych repeatedly exploited that by pulling him wide and hitting forehand winner to the open court. Nadal played better when he played closer to the baseline and would require more of the same when he faces opponents of the caliber of Federer and Djokovic.

2011 Champion Kim Clijsters beat World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 7-6(4) after getting tight while leading 6-3, 5-2. Clijsters served for match at 5-3 but went down 0-30 with some nervous errors and lost the game. In the tie breaker she rebounded winning four straight points from 3-4 down. Clijsters was relieved that she won in straight sets as she was getting tired in the afternoon heat. Wozniacki will now lose the No.1 ranking as a result of this loss.

Clijsters will next face World No.3 Victoria Azarenka who beat 8^th seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-7(0), 6-0, 6-2. The first set saw both players lose serve a number of times and Azarenka missed chance to serve for set at 6-5. Azarenka lost the tie break at love but rebounded with a 6-0 second set and led 4-2 in the third set and won through 6-2.