Roger Federer is two wins away from a 20th career Grand Slam title, which would mark his second triumph in the last three majors and third in the last five. It would also be his second in succession on the way to which he did not face either Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, or anyone else in the top five.
Federer appeared to be on a collision course with Juan Martin Del Potro or David Goffin for the quarterfinals and with Novak Djokovic or Alexander Zverev for the semis. So much for those ideas. The 36-year-old Swiss ended up meeting Tomas Berdych in the last eight (won 7-6(1), 6-3, 6-4) and he will go up against Hyeon Chung on Friday.
Although Chung had never previously accomplished anything in majors, his run has not come completely out of nowhere. The 21-year-old South Korean was hailed as a top up-and-coming player starting in 2015 and he staked a claim to being the best of his age group by winning the inaugural NextGen ATP Finals in Milan with a perfect 5-0 record this past fall. In Milan, though, Chung did not have the opportunity to beat the absolute cream of the under-22 crop (Zverev played the Nitto ATP Finals in London instead). As it turned out, that matchup was simply being saved for much higher stakes–in round three of this Australian Open. And it did not disappoint (well, except for Zverev’s performance in the fifth set); Chung pulled off a 5-7, 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 upset after three hours and 22 minutes. The world No. 58 also ousted Mischa Zverev (via retirement), Daniil Medvedev, and Tennis Sandgren without dropping a set to any of those three foes.
“Yeah, I’m really surprised,” Chung said of his run to the semifinals. “Because I really [didn’t] know (I could do it). I [made the] semis; I beat like Sascha, Novak, the other good players. I [had never played in the] second week in Grand Slam, so I’m really surprised.”
There will be no surprises on Friday, as Chung is obviously quite familiar with his upcoming opponent–even though he once looked up more to Djokovic than to Federer. With 19 Grand Slam titles under his belt, Federer is showing no signs of deterioration in terms or talent or passion for the game in this his 21st season on the pro circuit. The world No. 2 is six sets away from a successful defense of his 2017 Australian Open title following mostly routine wins over Aljaz Bedene, Jan-Lennard Struff, Richard Gasquet, Marton Fucsovic, and Tomas Berdych. Speaking of sets, Federer has not surrendered a single one so far this fortnight–although he was at least forced to come back from 5-2 down in the opener against Berdych on Wednesday.
“I’m very excited to play Chung,” Federer said. “I thought he played an incredible match against Novak. To beat him here is one of the tough things to do in our sport, I believe. I know that Novak maybe wasn’t at 110 percent, but he was alright. He was giving it a fight ’til the very end. To close it out, that was mighty impressive…. I think it’s an interesting match for me. I’ll definitely have to look into how I need to play against him because he has some great qualities, especially defensively like Novak has.”
Unfortunately for Chung, rarely is defense the recipe to beating Federer. Nadal used to do it with frequency, but the Spaniard also wields far more offensive firepower than Chung and much heavier topspin that troubled Federer’s one-handed backhand in the past. Moreover, unlike Zverev and Djokovic, Federer will not prolong rallies when he has Chung on the defensive by staying near his own baseline while being content to trade groundstrokes. Instead, the five-time Aussie Open champion will be–and always has been–willing to move forward and close points out quickly at the net when his opponent is out of position.
The enormity of the occasion should not be too big for Chung; he has already made that quite clear during his stay in Melbourne. But a matchup with Federer is simply not a favorable one for him–and not for anyone else right now.
Pick: Federer in 3
[polldaddy poll=9925010]
who ya got?
Fed in three
Daaaamn Benny! You confident, huh?? 🙂 🙂 I’ve honestly been picturing a Chung victory here…. But then I remind myself that Chung has likely never faced someone who brings such an aggressive onslaught as Federer. Sure, Fed may make a million unforced errors. But as long as he really takes it to Chung and doesn’t quit, his experience and tennis IQ should ultimately be more than Chung bargained for…
I really do believe this one could go either way, but I will settle with Federer in 5!
Dammnnn Kevin!! 😂 Going bold!! I like it!!
Also, Ricky- if I’m not mistaken, a win for Federer at this AO would be his 20th major title, not 21st…
haha yes i changed it
thanks
It’s funny because I actually made that same mistake in conversation with one of my tennis buds the other day no joke. I was like “just watch man, Roger is about to get his 21st” then I realized I made a mistake lol. #LookingAhead 😆
Chung runs down everything, so Federer is going to have to come forward a lot. Oddly, the one thing he didn’t do so well against Berdych was volley: he missed a lot of easy ones. I don’t expect that again, however, and if Roger serves as he has been doing, he should be fine. Federer in 3.
Fed in 5. Chung is better than you realise and a future world number one.
Michael Zverez but his ass handed to him and retired. Sasha Zverez had to throw the kitchen sink to win 2 sets and when Chung got down to business only won 3 of last 15 games. Djokovic got toyed with for 3 straight sets and was playing catch-up the whole time. Danni Medvedev just won Sydney and only won 8 games, 2 of the last 12. Sangren was playing lights out tennis, had just beaten Thiem and got done 3:0.
Fed will have to bring his A game to win this.
Fed will want to keep the points short and get Chung out if his comfort zone. If Chung gets into a rhythm from the baseline, watch out.
Looking forward to 5 sets of dramatic and thrilling match, pick: Fed.
I doubt this will go five sets; I think is most likely Fed in four, if not, it’s the unlikely Chung in four.
Federer in 3 or even 4,if he starts a bit off,unfortunately Chung doesn’t have the serve to put up a challenge to the Maestro. If Fed somehow appears misfiring,which’s unlikely,then certainly Chung as a chance.
Chung plays like a Djoko, but I don’t know he’s like the Djoko at which stage of his (Djoko’s) career.
Chung will trouble Fed but R. Federer should win.
I am also a fan of Hyeon Chung so if Chung wins, I will be sad and happy at the same time, I wish he wasn’t playing fed so that I can root 4 me completely.
R. Federer is ageless but he is not getting younger son want him to make 21 GS’s oops 20 😂.
#LookingAhead 😁
You know Lucky,talking about level of play,Chung is miles away from young Djokovic,maybe some glimpses of 2007 Djoko,however,the only thing I really can classify as equally good or even better than Djokovic it’s the foot speed,and it’s a close call. To think that Djoko defeated Federer in straight sets at 2008 AO is just insane.
According to Fed, he never should have been playing due to his mono.
Just reporting a fact; maybe an excuse on Fed’s part, but not mine.
Federer in 3. If Chung has a very good day one of them might go to a tb. If Chung can somehow get it to 5 sets he’d be in with a chance but he really does not have the serve to trouble Federer who will eat him alive. Or the experience. Federer most certainly has the serve to trouble Chung. Or anyone.
Honestly, I think Fed fans should be more concerned about what could possibly await him in the final, should he get through Chung… I know that Cilic needs to be in a certain mode in order to beat Federer in a major, a mode which I have really only seen Cilic enter 1 time (USO 2014). Cilic is seriously looking deadly right now. He absolutely killed Edmund. I’m not equating Edmund with Federer, but Cilic is so goddamn confident right now. And think about how determined he must be to redeem himself for the shitshow that was the Wimbledon final!
If Fed gets through Chung, but it takes like 4-5 hours of grinding tennis, then I will surely pick Cilic to beat Federer. I believe that a big reason that Fed wasn’t able to even take care of his own serve in that 2014 semi was because he had that crazy long 5-setter with Monfils in the previous round. Maybe it even went multiple days? I can’t remember… Anyway, I think it will be key to not spend all friggin’ night grinding away against Chung, especially since Cilic is already getting an extra night of rest.
But first things first- Fed has to be so aggressive and STAY super aggressive against Chung, no matter how many errors he’s making. And he MUST take care of his serve.
I’m telling you, it could potentially be an extremely difficult task for Fed to win this tournament…
Kevin you are right, M. Cilic will want to redeem himself and he is confident right now, if Roger Federer makes it, this finals will be interesting.
I believe R. Federer will still win but it won’t be easy, there won’t be a repeat of Wimbledon 2017 in terms of performance from Marin Cilic but the winner will remain the same.
#20GS’s
Maybe the 5 setter vs Monfils had something to do with Fed’s 2014 loss to Cilic, but what Fed said at the time was that he just couldn’t read Cilic’s serve. I’ll bet he’s prepared now.
But this time around I’m looking forward more to the women’s final. Don’t follow the WTA much – the current crop of “can’t anyone here hold serve?” players make me crazy. But this final should be interesting.
Yeah I agree, Ramara, that this year’s women’s final is so exciting! Two great champions, both have been #1, yet both looking for their first Major title! Just the fact alone that one of them will end the match no longer being a No-Slam-Number-One is so awesome. Personally, I would love to see Simona win, as I find her game much more interesting than Woz’s, and it was just so painful to see Simona be so close to clutching the RG trophy last year only to get blown off the court by a streaking terminator… However, I would be so happy for Woz if she won because she is just as deserving of it!
Also, pertaining the 2014 Cilic/Fed semi, I don’t believe that Fed would have won that match had he not had the draining QF. I don’t think anyone in the world from any era could have beaten Cilic that day. In his pre-final interview at Wimby 2017, Fed said that it was the one time in his career where the racquet was truly just completely taken out of his hands. I do wonder, however, if Fed maybe could have at least made the match competitive if he weren’t so physically drained, and I’m specifically referring to taking care of his own serve. I guess if Cilic was just ripping return winners left and right, then it maybe wouldn’t make a difference. You just never see Fed get broken that many times in straight sets on a hardcourt, in best of five, even since he’s been out of his prime, except for a couple times by Rafa and Novak in their primes. I think it was maybe just one of those rare matches where a guy is just serving bombs at a high rate, and cracking winners from all over the court, while just never missing.
I guess I’ve always been doubtful as to whether Marin could actually re-create such a perfect demolition in such a big, career-defining moment again. But then I see him having a fortnight like he has this tournament, and there’s just no denying that he is absolutely capable of beating anyone in the world in a major final if he can execute his game plan properly.
I’m just so conflicted as to what I think will happen in this tournament on the men’s side… I’ll just say that if Chung and Cilic both gave Fed a truly good match, and Fed managed to beat both of them for the title, it would be pretty impressive for his age. I honestly dont think Chung is even capable of just shitting the bed and giving up after one set, so Fed is going to have to really battle Chung to the end if he wants to win. But Cilic does have the propensity for sort of falling apart once he loses control of a match. If that happens, and Cilic loses the final in straight sets, then it will not be as impressive for the winner. I PRAY that the final, whether it’s Fed or Chung vs. Cilic, is a cracker!
The first two major finals that featured Cilic were one-sided stinkers, once in his favor and the other not. I just hope we get the best of both Cilic and the other finalist for once. 🙂
Probably no one would have beaten Cilic that day.
Wawrinka 2014 AO final; and Djokovic 2016 AO semi-final would have come close, for two recent HC slam performancse.
You’re right that the key to it not being close was Fed’s inability to hold serve.
When was the last time u saw rog play a 5 hour match?!!!
Sound like u really want him to loose 😉
My feeling Fed won’t win his 20th slam here, it is not just about being in good form. Luck must also come to play.
Fed in 3 sets . First set could be a tight affair. If Chung loses that, comeback would be next to impossible as Fed is a very good front runner. He can go on a hot streak with under one minute service games, doing bit of serve-volley.
Chung has to win the first set when Fed would be little tigher and we can see some mistakes.
I dont expect Chung to be nervous but its too early for the youngster to just go toe to toe with Fed just yet.
Agree,first set will be vital for Chung.
I’m very impressed with Chung…he could get a set off of GOAT….Fed in 4.
I agree about Chung getting a set off Fed. He’s shown a lot of poise and composure. Being the underdog he should come out and just go for his shots.
I don’t see him beating Fed. But if he plays the way we’ve seen him play here, then he might make it interesting.
Federer in 4
Going with a Roger win ML(big) and -5.5 games.
Chung can upset as he is young, fit with greater movement than Roger and with great defensive skills like Novak!
Roger can win in 3 sets. If Chung can figure out Roger’s game and hold his serve than this match can be a 4 or 5 setter and the over can hit. Will put a little on the over 37.5 games. But my gut says that Roger wins a 3 very hard fought tight sets.
BOL to all fans of me(Roger) or that filthy rich animal GOAT the Fed (with swiss cheese etc.!lol)!
Stupid Chung, by retiring you made me lose a ton of profits on Federer!lol
The blister is your reward! Well more of a punishment for sliding and having too much fun on a hard court.You cannot have that much fun sliding even after growing up to an adult! Can you? NO!lol
When I was small/at school, i used to slide a lot on the smooth floors at school and did many moves like a gymnast on ice! I paid the price with many worn out shoes and many blisters besides one bad ankle twist!Chung, you can learn a lesson from me and stop the sliding business and leave it to Nadal etc.(on clay)!lol Else you will be out of business (no money from tennis) with blisters, ankle & knee injuries etc.!Ha,ha,ha…
Chung, luv your fighting spirit, defensive skills (keep fetching balls for your opponent like my faithful dog does!lol) etc. Keep improving (of course without any monkey sliding and blisters!lol) and one day you can become World No.1!
Experts, will Federer become World No.1 if he wins the AO on Sunday? How do you guys calculate the points (for Fed) to become No.1?
Federer will not become #1 if he wins on sunday. Rafa needed to lose his match against Schwartzman in the 4th round, combined with Federer winning the tournament, for Federer to have left Melbourne as #1.
I may be mistaken, but perhaps Federer can get to #1 if he wins AO and then wins Dubai? As Rafa has finalist points to defend in Acapulco and Federer has little to defend in Dubai thanks to the weirdest loss I’ve ever witnessed to Donskoy…
You’re wrong, it will take at least a set for Chung (the professor) to work out Fed’s game and when he does, he will grind him into the ground.
Oops