SPORTS WINGER

World No. 1 Roger Federer has made a mis-match of his Australian Open semi-final against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, crushing the Frenchman in less than 90 minutes at Rod Laver Arena on Friday night.

The top seed produced some of his finest tennis as he outclassed Tsonga, winning 6-2 6-3 6-2 to book his place in Sunday’s final against Andy Murray.

With only 13 unforced errors in the match, Federer’s win avenged a defeat at the hands of Tsonga in Montreal last year, and advanced him into his record-breaking 22nd Grand Slam final.

After the match, Federer admitted everything had gone his way.

“I’m very happy. In these matches you always have to deal with how your opponent plays – but sometimes they play exactly how you want.

“I just think it’s easier with the top players if you get them in the first set. It’s nice going through like this,” the 28-year-old said.

Unlike Wednesday’s quarter-final against Nikolay Davydenko, the Swiss started strongly, and was finding the line with attacking shots off both forehand and backhand from the outset.

Tsonga competed well early, but at 2-1 down in the first set, he conceded his first of five service breaks to hand Federer a 3-1 advantage. Federer negotiated some close games through the latter part of the set, but as he played almost error-free tennis, the Frenchman crumbled again at the end of the set, gifting it to Federer by a margin of 6-2.

The 10th seed looked rejuvenated at the beginning of the second set, and fired down two confidence-boosting aces in a strong service game to level at 1-1.

At 3-2 to Federer in the second, the world No. 1 again showed the gulf in class between the two, creating a break-point chance with a sublime backhand down the line and a drop shot that caught Tsonga off balance. He took the break and served to make it 5-2. Though Tsonga held comfortably, it only delayed the inevitable as Federer served out the set, winning it 6-3 in just 31 minutes.

Weary from two consecutive five-set encounters, Tsonga was again no match for Federer in the third set, as the Swiss again took control early with a service break in the third game. A member of the crowd humorously summed up the feeling in the stadium when he yelled, “Give him a chance, Roger!”

The world No. 1 was clearly in no mood to do so, and continued his barrage of quality winners – 33 in total - as he broke Tsonga for a second time in the set, eventually closing out the match with a 6-2 scoreline in the third.

The top seed now meets fifth seed Murray in Sunday’s final, after the Scot defeated Croatia’s Marin Cilic in four sets on Thursday night.

Roger Federer and other top players have continued their fundraising efforts for Haiti with an auction of autographed racquets used in this year’s Australian Open.

Two days after the bidding opened, Federer’s racquet was easily the most sought after, with the latest of 87 bids offering $13,300. The next most-wanted racquet is Rafael Nadal’s, with a current bid of $4,150.

Novak Djokovic, Kim Clijsters and Jelena Dokic have also donated their racquets.

The eBay auction, which opened on Tuesday and closes after the men’s final on Sunday, follows “Hit for Haiti” - a charity match initiated by Federer on the eve of the tournament.

That mixed doubles match - where the public paid discounted prices and the players wore microphones to the enjoyment of the crowd - raised more than $185,000. The January 12 earthquake in Haiti killed an estimated 200,000 people.

Roger Federer has fired a warning shot at his potential challengers in the Australian Open final four after a ruthless deconstruction of sixth seed Nikolay Davydenko in their quarter-final on Wednesday.

Despite a poor start that saw Federer lose the first set and face a double break in the second, the world No. 1 surged back into the match and finished off the Russian 2-6 6-3 6-0 7-5 in two hours and 36 minutes at Rod Laver Arena.

The win extends Federer’s remarkable Grand Slam semi-final run to 23 consecutive appearances in the final four. The last time he wasn’t in the semi-finals of a Grand Slam was at Roland Garros in 2004.

After the match, Federer said he was struggling with Davydenko’s intensity and the sun shining across the court early in the match.

“I just tried to stay positive. I knew that hopefully when the sun goes, it may be for the better. It was a surprise to come back that great,” he said.

Federer looked out of sorts in the first set, as he struggled to hold serve in the opening game of the match before dropping it in the third game.

The in-form Davydenko then managed to break the Swiss again to race away with the first set in just 34 minutes, with Federer hitting frequent errors and only managing to feed the Russian fairly straightforward balls up the centre of the court.

The second set looked to be a continuation of the first, as Davydenko broke Federer’s serve and threatened to break a second time at 3-1 up.

However, Federer fought off two break points to hold serve in what would be a turning point in the match.

The world No. 1 then went on a 13-game tear as Davydenko’s error rate increased markedly while Federer’s confidence grew.

After claiming the second set 6-3, the Swiss raced through the third 6-0 in a set where Davydenko managed only seven points.

A break up in the fourth and still feeding off the Russian’s errors, Federer looked like he would close out the match easily. However, Davydenko fought back to break Federer twice late in the last set, adopting a more aggressive style against the Swiss.

Federer was equal to Davydenko’s challenge, though, and broke back to lead 6-5 before serving out the match to love in the following game.

Fast facts

- Both players had 35 winners, while Davydenko had 50 unforced errors to Federer’s 43.

- Federer served nine aces to Davydenko’s one.

- Davydenko converted just five of 19 break-point chances (26 per cent), while Federer capitalised on eight of his 14 break-point opportunities (57 per cent).