Federer Blasts Wawrinka, Advances to Semis

                         What do you get when a seemingly unmotivated player and the player with the most career men's grand slam titles play each other? A Swiss practice session. That is what Roger Federer made it look like as he easily defeated 19th seeded Stan Wawrinka 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 to advance to his 8th consecutive Australian Open semi final. On a calm 75 degree day, the match was also calm for Federer, who only faced 1 break point. Wawrinka seemed like he was content with being a quarterfinalist. He had been 9-0 on the year with wins over Thomas Berdych, Gael Monfils, and Andy Roddick. It is understandable to lose to Federer, but the way he did it was dissapointing for many of us who thought it would be a pretty good match.  It was a very unspirited effort.

                       It started out great early for Federer, who took the first set 6-1. Wawrinka won only 6 points on Roger's serve, while Roger took 13 of Wawrinka's 24 service points. Federer took both of the break points afforded to him in the easy set. It looked as if Wawrinka was ready to compete in the second set, serving more consistently and the set was tied 3-all with Stan serving. However, a poor volley on a break point gave Federer an easy passing shot to take the 4-3 lead. At that point, it was all but over. Federer won his next service game to take a 5-3 lead and the 9th game was absolute toying by Roger. The game, which lasted nearly ten minutes, was marked by Federer drop shots and tweeners. In the end, he broke Wawrinka again and took the set 6-3. The final set was only a formality as Federer broke early en route to a 6-3 win. It was a dissapointing end to a good tournament for Stan the Man. 

                      With the victory, Federer will play either Thomas Berdych or Novak Djokovic, the two players who bounced Federer from the last two 'slams. Federer converted on 5 of 7 break point chances and saved his only point. The match took less than 2 hours and was a swift beatdown in the battle of the Swiss.