Tennis
Federer Falls and Sharapova Advances at Australian Open
By Dylan Vox

Jan 28, 2008

Roger Federer

It was a big day at the Australian Open for top seed Roger Federer yesterday, but not in the way he’d hoped. The three time champion ended his 10 straight grand slam final streak when he lost to Serbian Novak Djokovic 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) in a dramatic semifinal round.  

With 13 major Grand Slam titles under his belt, and an unprecedented 37 match-winning streak in best of five matches on hard court, Federer has become the undisputed king of tennis over the past few years. He has taken Australian Open titles for the past two seasons, and there were very few who doubted that he would once again claim the title after his toughest competitor Rafael Nadal was beaten by unseeded Jo-Wilfried Tsong.  

Federer pulled ahead early in the first set, but lost ground when Djokovic won the last four games in a row. He never seemed to regain his focus after that, and eventually began making uncharacteristic unforced errors giving the Serbian the match.  

The 20-year-old Djokovic, who had lost the US Open title to Federer last year, reveled in his victory.  

"It's amazing, an indescribable feeling to beat the number one player of the world, probably one of the best players this sport has ever had, in straight sets," Djokovic explained to the Associated Press.  

He will now face Tsong in the finals on Sunday.  

On the women’s side, Russian powerhouse Maria Sharapova will get another chance to regain the title after being blown away at last year’s event by Serena Williams. Sharapova dominated the court ousting tennis sensation Justine Henin in a crushing 6-4, 6-0 quarterfinal match.  

She will face Serbian Ana Ivanovic who knocked out Venus Williams to reach her second Grand Slam final.