Resurgent Federer wins 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-1 4-6 6-3 to reach 49th Grand Slam quarter-final
Sunday 22 January 2017 17:13, UK
Roger Federer kept his dreams of winning an 18th Grand Slam title alive by overhauling fifth seed Kei Nishikori in five sets to reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.
The Swiss great remained on course for a fifth crown at Melbourne Park, and first since 2010, by fighting back to win 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-1 4-6 6-3 under the lights of Rod Laver Arena.
After six months out of the game, Federer's fairytale return continued where he emphatically quashed doubts about his fitness in three hours and 24 minutes of high-octane tennis.
Having stormed into the match after a 90-minute demolition of Tomas Berdych, the 35-year-old showed his appetite for a grind, going toe-to-toe with the fleet-footed Japanese in a match of marathon points.
He will now take on Andy Murray's conqueror Mischa Zverev for a place in the semi-finals on Tuesday.
Nishikori stormed 4-0 up in the first set and held on in the tie-break but the former US Open finalist was on the back foot thereafter, particularly after needing to take treatment on a back injury in the fifth.
"He was playing his heart out," Federer said. "I thought it was a great match and joy to be a part of it.
"I wasn't playing badly in the first set, maybe not serving at my spots very well or he was reading it well. It was about staying calm, after almost going down 6-0, I thought it wasn't getting any worse from there.
"Kei can give you some looks, he's not the biggest server on tour but he is one of the baseliners. It paid off in the end somehow."
Federer hammered Zverev 6-0 6-0 when they last met at Halle in 2013 and, with Novak Djokovic also out of the picture, he now looks well placed to challenge for the title in Melbourne.
"I definitely did watch the match," Federer said of Murray's defeat. "It was played right before us and once I come into the building I watch tennis. I thought it was another incredible match. Same when Denis (Istomin) beat Novak, I would never have picked it.
"I like Mishca, he has a nice game coming forward. I'm happy for him. He was going for it and he deserved to win.
"It's a tough one for Andy but he'll be back many more years and I'm sure he's going to win this."
We look back at the career of the 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer
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