The Australian Open is up to the last four players of the tournament and the second semifinal is a complete surprise as South Korea’s Chung Hyeon (ranked 58th in the world) faces world’s No. 2 Roger Federer.
Coming into this tournament pretty much everyone expected Federer, the reigning champion, to go deep into the tournament and contend once again for the title of this major.
Federer’s presence in these instances is no surprise, but the same can’t be said of Chung as most people expected Federer’s opponent to be Argentinian Juan Martin del Potro, Austrian Dominic Thiem or even Serbian Novak Djokovic, who isn’t here because he was defeated by the South Korean in three outstanding sets (7-6, 7-5 and 7-6).
This is a history-making moment for Chung as this is his first ever Grand Slam semifinal who has been steadily getting better for the last eight months as his results prove.
These two players have never faced each other before but it’s safe to say that people expect Federer to win. He’s the world’s No. 2 and winner of 19 Grand Slam tournaments and numerous more ATP titles and records.
Federer, however, can’t get too comfortable against Chung as he has the skills to pull an upset and advance to the Final. His serve needs a little improvement but has proved lethal enough to help him win games, he has very good court movement and his forehands are exceptional, but definitely, the best asset of his game is his ability to switch from forehand to backhand, which he does very fluidly.
Federer reached the Australian Open in very good form and is playing perhaps better than last year, however, he has not faced an opponent that has really challenged him. Undoubtedly, Chung will be Federer’s toughest test so far and will give some problems that he has not faced in this tournament.
Despite Chung’s good form, Federer should be able to get to the Final. This won’t be an easy match for the Swiss as he will have to play his best game of the tournament and don’t be surprised if he needs several tiebreaks and a five-set effort to advance.
Chung needs to take every set as long as he can because the longer this match drags on the more chances he will have to advance. Don’t expect Chung to win in anything other than a five-set contest.
If most sets head to a tiebreak or at least 10 to 12 games, he increases his chances of extending the match and then upset an exhausted Federer in the fifth set to move on to the Final.
