|
Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland celebrates defeating Novak Djokovic of Serbia in their men's singles quarter-final tennis match at the Australian Open 2014 tennis tournament in Melbourne January 21, 2014. [Photo/Agencies] |
At the end, it was a mis-hit from Wawrinka on a service return that set up match point. Djokovic chased it to the net but his cross-court drop shot was too wide. He then missed a volley on match point.
"Didn't want to let him win that one," Warwinka said. "Got a little bit lucky in the last one. He missed easy shots. But in general in the fifth set I think I went for it."
Djokovic was quick to praise Wawrinka, heading to his media interview obligations just minutes after the match ended.
"He took his opportunities. He deserved his big win today," Djokovic said. "There's nothing I can say. I gave it my best, I gave it my all. It wasn't to be this time. He showed his mental strength and he deserved to win."
After reaching the semifinals at back-to-back majors for the first time, the 28-year-old Wawrinka will be playing for a place in his first Grand Slam final _ in 36 attempts dating back to 2005 _ when he meets No. 7-seeded Tomas Berdych, who beat third-ranked David Ferrer 6-1, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
Eugenie Bouchard is playing in just her fourth major, and already has advanced to the last four in the tournament. The 19-year-old Bouchard became the first Canadian to make the semifinals of the Australian Open _ and only the second player from her country to make the semis of any Grand Slam _ when she beat Ana Ivanovic 5-7, 7-5, 6-2. It was a big win, considering Ivanovic had knocked Williams out in the fourth round on Sunday.
Bouchard next plays No. 4-seeded Li Na on Thursday for a chance to reach the final. Li, the 2011 French Open champion and two-time Australian finalist, beat Flavia Pennetta 6-2, 6-2 in the first of the quarterfinals.
Despite the relative speed of her Grand Slam progression, Bouchard said she wasn't surprised by her win.
"It's something I've been doing since I was five years old and working my whole life for and sacrificing a lot of things for," she said. "I always expect myself to do well. I'm just happy to have gone through this step. I'm not done."
Victoria Azarenka, who is attempting to win her third consecutive title here, plays her quarterfinal match against Agnieszka Radwanska on Wednesday. Simona Halep will play Dominika Cibulkova in another quarterfinal.
The top half of the men's draw plays its quarterfinals on Wednesday when top-ranked Rafael Nadal takes on 22-year-old Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov and Murray plays 17-time Grand Slam champion Federer.
The lopsidedness of the draw played out into the second week with three of the quarterfinalists in the top half _ Federer, Nadal and Murray _ combining for 32 Grand Slams. With Djokovic gone from the bottom half and only Wawrinka and Berdych remaining, the Grand Slam total from that side is zero.
Other knocked-out top seeds:
Op Rana
Berlin Fang
Zhu Yuan
Huang Xiangyang
Chen Weihua
Liu Shinan