Stan Wawrinka beats Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Australian Open quarter-final
Tuesday 24 January 2017 15:19, UK
Stan Wawrinka sweeped past Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to reach the Australian Open semi-final for the third time in the last four years.
The 2014 champion made a sluggish start before finding his range against an out-of-sorts Tsonga, who rarely threatened the Swiss fourth seed, and Wawrinka eased through the gears to win 7-6 6-4 6-3.
The 31-year-old has won a Grand Slam in each of the last three years and remains on course to make it a fourth career major having added the US Open last year to the 2015 French Open and the 2014 Aussie crown.
Up next for Wawrinka is a semi-final date against fellow Swiss Roger Federer who breezed past Mischa Zverev is Tuesday's other quarter-final.
On paper, the clash with 12th-seeded Tsonga looked like being a crowd-pleaser as well as evenly contested with Wawrinka just shading the seven-match head-to-head record (4-3), although the third seed had claimed two of the three Grand Slam meetings.
But the reality was a dominant display from the Swiss who needed just two hours and 15 minutes to dispatch the 2008 finalist and reach his eighth Grand Slam semi-final - all of which have come in his last 13 majors.
Having never gone beyond the last eight of a slam until the 2013 US Open, Wawrinka has an impressive record over the last three years going on to win all three of the slam finals he has reached.
Speaking to Jim Courier in his post match interview, he was left to reflect on a job well done.
"It's not easy to play against him. He's a strong player," said Wawrinka.
"I think (the) conditions were quite fast today. It was a bit windy. Not easy to control (the ball).
"I started to move a bit better and be a bit more aggressive from the first shot. I think that's what made the difference."
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