MELBOURNE, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Australian Open's semifinal matchups have been set on Wednesday, with Roger Federer and Simona Halep still the ones to beat in the tournament.
For Czech player Tomas Berdych, squaring off against 19-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer was always going to be tough, but the 19th seed managed to get off to a great start and broke the Swissman's serve early in the first set.
It didn't take long however, for the world number two to fight back.
Despite the slow start, Federer was able to stay composed and forced the opening set into a tie break.
From that point, the five time Australian Open winner continued the momentum and took the second and third set with spectacular precision and shot selection at the net.
The final score ended 7-6 (7-1), 6-3, 6-4.
"I needed to get my rhythm going because Tomas had that early and that' s why I was under pressure," Federer explained.
"So I just tried to hang around and be a bit more aggressive."
In the day's other men's quarterfinal match, South Korean 21-year-old Hyeon Chung continued his dream run at the tournament by downing American Tennys Sandgren 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.
The youngster will now play Federer on Friday, and whoever emerges victorious will take their place in the final against the winner of tomorrow's clash between Marin Cilic and Kyle Edmund.
