Match: Roger Federer v Stanislas Wawrinka, Men's singles semi-final
Date: 26 January, Thursday
Time: 4:30pm SGT/2pm IST/8:30am GMT
Competition: Australian Open 2017
Venue: Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Park
TV Channel: Fox Sports 1 will provide live TV coverage in Singapore.
Live Streaming: The match can be watched live online at AO TV Live, Watch ESPN, Tennis Channel Live
Live scores can be found on the tournament's official website.
Overview
Comeback man Roger Federer has now started to believe that an 18th Grand Slam title is not very far away. Returning from an injury, that kept him out of the second half of 2016 season, the 17th seed sparked off hopes when he demolished higher-ranked Tomas Berdych in straight sets in his third round clash.
Since then, the Swiss has turned back the clock and has been showing glimpses of his vintage self. World number five Kei Nishikori was disposed off in four sets while Andy Murray-slayer Mischa Zverev was beaten in straight sets, with the first set going Federer's way in just 19 minutes.
Federer, who has been without a major title since 2012, will fancy his chances against his countryman, whom he has beaten 18 times. The fourth seed has beaten the 17-time Grand Slam champion thrice but he has not managed to do it on hard courts even once.
However, the 2014 champion, like always, is getting better with every passing match in the ongoing slam. After winning a hard-fought first-round battle against unseeded Martin Klizan in the first round, Wawrinka has eased past the likes of Viktor Troicki, Andreas Seppi and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in his subsequent rounds.
While Federer reportedly acknowledged how Wawrinka has improved his game to adapt to faster courts, the 31-year-old noticed the ease with which his senior compatriot has been progressing in the tournament. Knowing that the results haven not gone his way in their last two meetings (World Tour Finals and US Open 2015), the world number five believes he needs to step up his game on Thursday.
TV Schedule
Australia: Seven
India: Sony Six
Japan: NHK, WOWOW, Sportsnavi
Malaysia: Fox Sports
US: ESPN
UK: Eurosport
Philippines: Fox Sports
Thailand: Fox Sports
China: CCTV, Guangdong Sports, BTV Sports
