Tennis – Australian Open:Roger Federer staged a remarkable turnaround to beat Nikolay Davydenko at the Australian Open and reach his 23rd successive Grand Slam semi-final. The top seed looked in big trouble when Davydenko held a point for a double-break lead in the second set having taken the opener. But Federer fought back from that perilous position to record a 2-6 6-3 6-0 7-5 win.
Davydenko, the form player on the ATP World Tour, started like a train and raced through the opening set as Federer struggled with his game, making 17 unforced errors - he later revealed the setting sun had caused him problems.
The Russian continued his onslaught at the start of the set two but when leading 3-1 missed a great chance to move a double-break up. Instead Federer held serve and that proved the turning point.
A forehand winner saw him break Davydenko's serve for the first time in the following game, sparking a remarkable run of 13 straight games for Swiss.
By the time the sixth seed halted that streak he trailed two sets to one and was a break down in the fourth.
To his credit, Davydenko broke back to get the set back on serve and did so for a second time when Federer served for the match at 5-4.
A string of superb returns enabled Davydenko to save a match point in that game, but Federer refocused and simply broke serve again to lead 6-5.
This time he served out to book a semi-final meeting with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Tsonga fought back from two sets to one down to reach his first grand slam semi-final in two years by beating third seed Novak Djokovic 7-6 6-7 1-6 6-3 6-1.
Tsonga, who lost to Djokovic in the final in 2008 and had not advanced past the quarter-finals of a grand slam since, looked down and out after the third set but rallied to beat the Serb after three hours 52 minutes.
It was the second successive five-set victory for the 10th-seeded Frenchman, who until his fourth-round win over Nicolas Almagro on Monday had never played a five-set match before.
"The match changed completely," Tsonga said. "But I was in good shape and I played good tennis . . . even if he was sick.
"I feel good. I had good preparation and I hope I will have a lot of power against Roger. It's a tough match, maybe the toughest."
After a tight first two sets when neither player was able to stamp their authority on the match, Djokovic raced through the third.
Tsonga was constantly talking to himself and was tempted to throw his racket to the ground when Djokovic took the third set in 37 minutes.
Just as Djokovic had the Frenchman on the ropes and ready to deliver the knockout blow, his form disappeared after he left the court to deal with an illness.
Tsonga raced into a 5-0 lead and while the Serb clawed back to 5-3, his opponent did not waste a second chance to serve it out and send the match into a decider.
The 24-year-old Tsonga, riding the momentum of a boisterous French contingent on Rod Laver Arena, then charged to victory.
Collated Results: Australian Open, Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia
Men's Singles Quarter-Final:(1) Roger Federer (Swi) bt (6) Nikolay Davydenko (Rus) 2-6 6-3 6-0 7-5, (10) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Fra) bt (3) Novak Djokovic (Ser) 7-6 (10-8) 6-7 (5-7) 1-6 6-3 6-1
Women's Singles Quarter-Final:(16) Na Li (Chn) bt (6) Venus Williams (USA) 2-6 7-6 (7-4) 7-5, (1) Serena Williams (USA) bt (7) Victoria Azarenka (Blr) 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-2
Men's Doubles Quarter-Final:(2) Daniel Nestor (Can) & Nenad Zimonjic (Ser) bt Arnaud Clement (Fra) & Jonathan Erlich (Isr) 6-4 1-6 7-6 (8-6), Ivo Karlovic (Cro) & Dusan Vemic (Ser) bt (3) Lukas Dlouhy (Cze) & Leander Paes (Ind) 6-3 6-4
Women's Doubles Quarter-Final:(15) Maria Kirilenko (Rus) & Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol) bt Sally Peers (Aus) & Laura Robson (Gbr) 6-4 6-1, (1) Cara Black (Zim) & Liezel Huber (USA) bt (7) Alisa Kleybanova (Rus) & Francesca Schiavone (Ita) 6-3 6-4
Mixed Doubles Quarter-Final:(1) Cara Black (Zim) & Leander Paes (Ind) bt (8) Elena Vesnina (Rus) & Andy Ram (Isr) 6-4 6-3, Ekaterina Makarova (Rus) & Jaroslav Levinsky (Cze) bt Raquel Kops-Jones (USA) & Dick Norman (Bel) 6-4 7-6 (7-3), Flavia Pennetta (Ita) & Marcelo Melo (Bra) bt Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova (Cze) & Oliver Marach (Aut) 6-4 6-4, (7) Lisa Raymond (USA) & Wesley Moodie (Rsa) bt Chia-Jung Chuang (Tpe) & Filip Polasek (Svk) 6-3 3-6 12-10