The last 2013 Australian Open singles semifinal is not before 7:30 am EST Friday between Andy Murray and Roger Federer. The two will battle for the right to face Novak Djokovic in the final round.
Murray leads Federer 10-9 in their previous head-to-head matches. However, Federer has won each of their first three Grand Slam finals matches: the 2008 U.S. Open, the 2010 Australian Open and 2012 at Wimbledon. Murray has won four of the six semifinal matches between the two, though none of them have come in a Grand Slam tournament. Federer has the most recent semis win over Murray, coming in the 2012 ATP World Tour Finals.
Second-seeded Federer defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France in five sets in the quarterfinals, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-3. That has been the only match of the tournament for him that lasted beyond three sets. All of his previous rounds had lasted three sets.
Federer is a four-time Australian Open winner, having lost once in the finals to Rafael Nadal in 2009. The victories came in 2004 versus Marat Safin, 2006 over Marcos Baghdatis, 2007 against Fernando Gonzalez and 2010 in a previous bout with Murray. In his 2007 win, Federer was the first man in almost 30 years to win a Grand Slam without losing a set, matching Bjorn Borg's 1980 victory.
Federer beat seeded players in two of his five rounds of the Aussie Open so far (Milos Raonic and Tsonga in consecutive rounds). He has vanquished Benoit Paire, Nikolay Davydenko, Bernard Tomic, Raonic and Tsonga in order in his first five rounds of play.
Murray dispatched Jeremy Chardy of France 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 in the quarterfinals. He has not yet lost a set in the 2013 open, with each of his matches going three sets. He has needed seven games to win a set only once.
Murray has five Grand Slam finals appearances and one title: the 2012 U.S. Open, which he won over Djokovic. His previous losses include consecutive Australian Open finals defeats in 2010 and 2011. He fell to Federer in the first of them and Djokovic in the second. Murray exacted revenge against Federer for a 2012 defeat in the Wimbledon Finals by beating him for the gold medal in the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
In his previous Melbourne matches in 2013, Murray has beaten Robin Haase, Joao Sousa, Ricardas Berankis, Gilles Simon and Chardy.
The women's singles final will be on Sunday, Jan. 27 at 7:30 am EST. The men's final will be the last match of the tournament at 7:30 am EST on Monday, Jan. 28. This is the full schedule of the 2013 Australian Open.
The women's doubles final takes place on Saturday, Jan. 26 not before 4:00 am EST. The men's doubles final will be after the women's singles final. The mixed doubles final will be at 4:00 am EST on Monday, Jan. 28.
You can watch video highlights of past 2013 Austrailan Open matches here.
The Live Stream of the 2013 Australian Open is right here (Service Provider Required).
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