Roger Federer displayed impeccable tennis at his classic best to beat tough challenger Tomas Berdych and advance into the semifinals of the Australian Open.
The 34-year-old defeated sixth seed Berdych 7-6(4) 6-2 6-4 to enter his 12th Australian Open semi-final.
The Swiss ace, who has 17 grand slam titles under his belt, looks to add one more to his kitty at the Australian this year. Federer, who hasn't won a grand slam title since 2012, didn't hide his excitement at overpowering Berdych and closing in on another major.
"It's part of the reason why I guess I'm still playing. I feel like I'm competitive at the top. I can beat all the guys on tour," Federer said after the match.
"It's nice now that in the last three slams that I've been as consistent as I have been," he said Reuters reported.
Federer has a tough semifnail line-up, likely to meet his toughest opponent on tour, Novak Djokovic. The Serb, who beat Federer in the last two grand slam finals the Swiss played, faces Japan's Kei Nishikori in the quarterfinal.
Berdych was all praise for the Swiss. "I think he's still on a pretty high level, playing great tennis. He's just proving how great a player he is, how difficult at this time it is to play him," Berdych said.
"He was playing really, really aggressive, without any mistakes, without any unforced errors. That's the way that he needs to play."
