ROGER FEDERER AND Serena Williams both cruised in to the final four of the Australia Open last night after respective wins over Tomas Berdych and Maria Sharapova.
However, there were moments where the adrenaline would have been rushing during Federer’s straight set, 7-6, 6-2, 6-4 two-hour win. Both the Swiss and Berdych put the officials in the line of fire.
In the first set tie-break, Berdych smashed a serve down the middle and, despite the line judge’s best attempts, hit the bull’s eye with a 121 mph shot.
Cchair umpire Carlos Bernardes wasn’t safe either. This Federer return came within inches of finding a the window of the umpire’s high seat.
We’d be ducking too, Carlos.
Elsewhere, Serena Williams continued her remarkable dominance over Maria Sharapova with an 18th straight win over the Russian Grand Slam champion.
Williams defeated Sharapova 6-4, 6-1 to set up a semi-final against Agnieszka Radwanska.
Sharapova’s losing streak against one of the game’s all-time greats dates back to 2004 when she last beat Williams in the Wimbledon final. Her downfall started in an epic semi-final at the 2005 Australian Open, with the American scraping home in a 2-6, 7-5, 8-6 thriller.
“Maria is a super-intense player. She is an intense and focused player. She was world number one and has won so many Grand Slams for a reason,” said Williams.
“Playing someone like that you have to play with fire and intensity. I’ve been playing all week aggressive but I didn’t start out that way.”
