Australian Open, 1st SF: Stanislas Wawrinka vs Tomas Berdych - As it happened...

Live updates from the semi-final clash between Stanislas Wawrinka and Tomas Berdych

Zee Media Bureau/Suyash Srivastava

======================================================================= Melbourne: It was a closely fought match between the two players, but Stanislas Wawrinka emerged victorious with a 6-3 6-7(1) 7-6(3) 7-6(3) win over Tomas Berdych in the first semi-final of Australian Open 2014. With this win, Wawrinka has moved into his first singles Grand Slam final. If you are excited about the second semi-final between Federer and Nadal, read Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal: Tennis can’t get any better» ======================================================================= TIEBREAKER: Wawrinka wins it 7-4 Berdych to serve. Berdych serves and advanced to the nets, got his racket for a volley, but it fell just short, 0-1. Wawrinka to serve. Good serve from Stan and he came to the nets, but Berdych's return went long, 2-0. Berdych's backhand goes long, Stan now takes a big lead of 3-0. Berdych to serve. Good serve from Berdych and he gets on the board as Stan's return goes long, 1-3. Double-fault from Berdych, it was challenged by the Czech and it was well long, 4-1 lead for Wawrinka. Now Berdych wins a point, 2-4. Change of ends for both the players. Wawrinka to serve. Stan fires an ace to take a 5-2 lead. Berdych to serve. The Czech wins a point with a cross-court forehand, 5-3. Berdych's forehand goes long, Stan leads 6-3 and Wawrinka has three match points! Wawrinka to serve. Double-fault from Wawrinka, 6-4, challenged by Stan but it's long. Stan has two match points remaining. Wawrinka serves good, and Berdych's return sails long as the Swiss advances into his first Grand Slam final! What a tournament he has had! He totally deserves it. But it was a good fightback from Berdych. FOURTH SET: Scores level 6-6 Wawrinka to serve. Stan goes for his down the line backhand, but it goes wide, 0-15. Stan wins a point, 15-15. Berdych's backhand slice, goes wide, 30-15. Good backhand down the line winner from Berdych, 30-30. Stan's forehand down the line wins him another point, 40-30. Stan serves wide and wins the game. Another tiebreaker! FOURTH SET: Berdych leads 6-5 Berdych to serve. Berdych has changed his racket. Good backhand from cross-court from Berdych and Stan's return hits the net, 15-0. Another quick serve – an ace from Berdych, 30-0. Good wide serve from Berdych and he follows it with a winner, 40-0. Stan plays a cross-court backhand, and it lands just wide, Berdych holds his serve. FOURTH SET: Scores level 5-5 Wawrinka to serve to stay in the set. Stan starts off with his third double-fault of the match, 0-15. Berdych tries to attack, takes his chance to hit a down the line forehand, but ends up hitting wide, 15-15. This time Berdych tries to go for a backhand winner, once again hits wide, 30-15. Good serve from Stan and he follows it with a forehand winner, 40-15. Good serve once again from Stan and he wins the game. FOURTH SET: Berdych leads 5-4 Berdych to serve. Berdych serves and goes for the volley, hits a volley winner, 15-0. Stan's return of serve goes wide, 30-0. Wide serve from Berdych and a sizzling cross-court forehand winner from Wawrinka, 30-15. Good serve gives Wawrinka another point, 40-15. Another good wide serve from Berdych. FOURTH SET: Scores level 4-4 Wawrinka to serve. Wawrinka wins the game convincingly. FOURTH SET: Berdych leads 4-3 Berdych to serve. Berdych wins the first point from the nets, 15-0. Stan's backhand goes long, 30-0. Berdych wins one more and extends his lead to 40-0. Wawrinka wins a point, 40-15. Berdych wins the game as Stan's forehand goes wide. FOURTH SET: Scores level 3-3 Wawrinka to serve. Berdych loses a point as Stan hits one high and long, 15-0. Stan wins a point off a powerful down the line forehand, 30-0. Berdych challenged a call which was called in, replays showed the ball was wide. Superb cross-court forehand from Wawrinka, 30-15. Stan hasn't played much of backhand winners today. Stan wins a point to take a 40-30 lead. Stan wins the game. FOURTH SET: Berdych leads 3-2 Berdych to serve. Stan wins the first point, 0-15. Good ace from Berdych, 15-15. Berdych serves wide and comes to the nets, wins the point with a good smash, 30-15. Good rally between the two players and Berdych's backhand crashed into the nets, 30-30. Berdych serves another ace to take a 40-30 lead. Berdych serves wide and delivers an forehand for a winner to seal the game. FOURTH SET: Scores level 2-2 Wawrinka to serve. Stan wins the game as he sends one into the left-corder of Berdych's court for a winner, 15-0. Stan wins a point off a drop shot, 30-0. Terrific forehand from Stan, 40-0. Wawrinka fires another ace to win the game. FOURTH SET: Berdych leads 2-1 Berdych to serve. Berdych came at the nets and played a few good shots to bring Wawrinka under pressure, and the Swiss finally hit one crashing into the nets, 15-0. Berdych wins another point, 30-0. Berdych wins another point as Stan's shot goes long, 40-0. Good return of serve from Wawrinka and as he advanced towards the nets, Berdych played a backhand slice which went slightly wide, 40-15. Good cross-court forehand from Berdych, called wide and it was won by Berdych as the chair umpired overruled the decision. FOURTH SET: Scores level 1-1 Wawrinka to serve. Wawrinka's backhand goes long, 0-15. Good wide serve from the Swiss, 15-15. Warinka hits another backhand outside the base line, 15-30. Wawrinka comes back with an ace, 30-30. Wawrinka takes the lead as Berdych's forehand hits the net, 40-30. Stan wins the game as Berdych hits one long. FOURTH SET: Berdych leads 1-0 Berdych to serve. Both the players win a point each, 15-15. Berdych tries to play a drop shot and it falls just short, 15-30. Berdych wins a point, 30-30. Berdych's forehand hits the net, 30-40, a break point straight away for Wawrinka in the first game of a new set! Berdych saves the break point with a wide and quick serve, 40-40, deuce. Berdych makes his fifth double-fault of the match and Wawrinka has his second break point of the game! Good serve from Berdych that brings the game back to deuce! Superb ace from Berdych and he takes the advantage! The game is back to deuce as Berdych's forehand goes long, 40-40. Berdych came the nets and foreced Wawrinka to make an error, the Czech takes the advantage. Berdych's cross-court forehand finds the net, that brings the match to the fourth deuce of the game! Berdych serves good and then advances to hit a forehand winner, takes the advantage. Excellent game this so far. Superb cross-court forehand from Wawrinka, that deserved to be a winner and it was! Deuce again. Good serve from Berdych and he takes the advantage as Stan's return lands wide. Another double-fault from Berdych, game back to deuce. Both the players sweating it out in the first game of the fourth set. And guess what, Berdych comes back with an ace! Takes the advantage once again. And after a tiring game, Berdych finally manages to hold his serve! ======================================================================= TIEBREAKER: Wawrinka won it 7-3 Wawrinka to serve. He wins the first point, 1-0. Berdych to serve. Berdych's cross-court backhand goes long, 2-0 lead for Stan. Superb play from Berdych and he finally wins the point, 1-2. Berdych wins two more points, 3-2 lead for Stan. Berdych to serve. Double-fault from Berdych, his third of the match, 4-2. Point for Berdych as Stan's shot goes long, 4-3. Stan wins a point, to extend his lead to 5-3. Good serve from Stan, Berdych had to stretch to his left there and the shot went way wide, 6-3, set point for Wawrinka! Berdych to serve. He first serve was wide, Berdych challenged it and it was slightly wide, and Berdych followed it with another wide serve. Wawrinka takes a two-set lead! THIRD SET: Scores level 6-6 Berdych to serve. Berdych wins two points and Stan wins one, 30-15. Berdych wins another point, 40-15. Wawrinka comes up with his spot on down the line winner, 40-30. Berdych wins the game with another ace. THIRD SET: Wawrinka leads 6-5 Wawrinka to serve. Berdych wins the first point as Wawrinka's forehand goes too high and wide, 0-15. Incredible return of serve from Berdych from a forehand, 0-30. This time, Berdych's return of serve crashes into the nets, 15-30. Excellent ace at the right time from Wawrinka, 30-30. Berdych has been dominating off Stan's serve but the Swiss too is making a comeback. Wawrinka fires another ace to take a 40-30 lead. Good serve from Stan, and he wins the game with it. THIRD SET: Scores level 5-5 Berdych to serve to stay in the third set. Wawrinka wins the first game as Berdych's forehand goes long, 0-15. Berdych gets in position to play a volley winner and drops it at the last moment for a winner, 15-15. Berdych hits an incredible forehand to the right corner of Wawrinka who hits it high and wide, 30-15. Superb cross-court forehand winner from Berdych, 40-15. Wawrinka's forehand goes long and Berdych wins the game. THIRD SET: Wawrinka leads 5-4 Wawrinka to serve. Berdyn wins the first point off a crocc-court forehand. Berdych makes Stan play on the bounce and his backhand goes wide, 0-30 lead for the Czech! Good wide serve from Wawrinka, 15-30. Good rally between the two players ended when Berdych's two-handed backhand hit the nets, 30-30. Good comeback from Wawrinka. Superb rally between the two players and Berdych took his chance and hammered a down the line forehand winner, 30-40, break point for Berdych! Wawrinka saves it as Berdych's return goes wide, Wawrinka yells! Another good wide serve from Wawrinka and he also takes the advantage, game point for Stan. Berdych's backhand goes long and Wawrinka holds his serve. It was an amazing game where Stan fought back from 0-30 and even saved a break point! THIRD SET: Scores level 4-4 Berdych to serve. Berdych gets lucky as his shots clips the net and lands for a winner, 15-0. Berdych serves another ace, 30-0, challenged by Wawrinka but it's on the line. Berdych once again comes to the net and hits a backhand winner, 40-0 lead for the Czech. Berdych wins the game. THIRD SET: Wawrinka leads 4-3 Wawrinka to serve. Good serve from Stan, 15-0. Wawrinka wins a point with a forehand winner, 30-0. Wawrinka wins a point off a forehand winner, 30-15. Stan wins the game easily. THIRD SET: Scores level 3-3 Berdych to serve. Double-fault from Berdych, 0-15. He had been serving all this while. Berdych wins a point with a forehand winner, 15-15. Another super forehand winner from Berdych, 30-15. Berdych takes a 40-15 lead. Wawrinka's forehand winner goes long, Berdych wins the game. THIRD SET: Wawrinka leads 3-2 Wawrinka to serve. Wawrinka wins the first point, 15-0. Super forehand from Stan, 30-0. Wawrinka wins another point, 40-0. Berdych wins two points, 40-30. Wawrinka wins the game with a powerful forehand winner. THIRD SET: Scores level 2-2 Berdych to serve. Berdych wins the first point as Stan's shot goes long, 15-0. Good serve from Berdych gives him another point, 30-0. Berdych charged down and hit a volley winner to take a 40-0 lead. Berdych wins the game as Stan's forehand hits the nets. THIRD SET: Wawrinka leads 2-1 Wawrinka to serve. Stan wins the first point, 15-0. Stan wins another point, 30-0. Good return of serve from Berdych but an even better response from Wawrinka, 40-0. Berdych's return of serve is wide and Stan takes the lead. THIRD SET: Scores level 1-1 Berdych to serve. Wawrinka's backhand slide hits the net, 15-0. Berdych follows a superb serve with an even better backhand, 30-0. Wawrinka's return of serve goes long, 40-0 lead for Berdych. The Czech wins the game after Stan's cross-court forehand goes wide. THIRD SET: Wawrinka leads 1-0 Wawrinka to serve. Stan wins the first point, 15-0. Berdych wins a point as Wawrinka's forehand clips the nets and lands wide, 15-15. Berdych's two-handed backhand hits the nets, 30-15. Wawrinka takes a 40-15 lead with a powerful forehand winner. Terrific down the line backhand from Wawrinka, he wins the first game of the third set. ======================================================================= TIEBREAKER: Wawrinka wins it 7-1 Berdych to serve. Stan's shot goes wide, 1-0. Cracking forehand down the line from Wawrinka, 1-1. Stan to serve. Berdych created pressure once again by coming to the nets and Stan's backhand found the nets, 2-1. Berdych to serve. He serves wide and Stan's return is short, 3-1 lead for the Czech. Another good serve from Berdych and he wins another point, 4-1. Stan to serve. Massive point for Berdych who makes Wawrinak run all over the court and then delivers a cross-court backhand winner, takes a 5-1 lead! Stan to continue serving. Berdych wins another point, takes a 6-1 lead and gets a set point! Berdych wins the set as Wawrinaka fails to return a serve which came right into his body! Game on! The Czech has shown immense fightback and Wawrinka would now know, this match won't be as easy as he would have thought. SECOND SET: Scores level 6-6 Wawrinka to serve to stay in the set. Berdych charges down the court after a good return and hits a winner, 0-15. Berdych's weak backhand hits the net, 15-15. Superb wide serve from Wawrinka, 30-15. Berdych came to the nets and an under-pressure Stan hit the nets, 30-30. Berdych's shot goes wide. He lost his balance for a while there. Wawrinka serves another ace and takes the set into a tiebreaker! SECOND SET: Berdych leads 6-5 Berdych to serve. The Czech wins the first point, 15-0. Berdych wins another point, 30-0. Good serve from Berdych, Wawrinka's return is long, 40-0. Berdych wins the game with an ace. SECOND SET: Scores level 5-5 Wawrinka to serve to stay in the set. Wawrinka begins with an ace, 15-0. Another ace for the Swiss, 30-0. A hat-trick of aces for Wawrinka, 40-0. Wawrinka's cross-court forehand goes wide, 40-15. Good wide serve from Wawrinka and Berdych's return is long. SECOND SET: Berdych leads 5-4 Berdych to serve. The Czech wins the first point after Stan's shot goes wide, 15-0. Good point between the two players, Berdych kept hitting volleys from the nets and Wawrinka tries his best to return a few shots before missing out on a volley winner, 30-0. Good cross-court forehand from Berdych, 40-0. Stan's backhand slice is short and Berdych holds on to his serve. SECOND SET: Scores level 4-4 Wawrinka to serve. Stan's backhand goes wide, 0-15. Berdych's forehand goes long, 15-15. Good serve from Wawrinka and Berdych's return is short, 30-15. Ace from Wawrinka, 40-15. Wawrinka seals the game with another ace! SECOND SET: Berdych leads 4-3 Berdych to serve. Good volley winner from Berdych, 15-0. Another ace from Berdych, 30-0. Berdych misses on an easy winner, hits it wide, 30-15. Stan wins a point after a good rally, 30-30. Good wide serve from Berdych, 40-30. Terrific down the line forehand from Wawrinka which landed on the side line for a winner, 40-40, deuce! Terrific return of serve from Wawrinka, and it gives him another break point! Terrifc wide serve from Berdych, deuce again. Berdych wins a point with a volley winner and takes the advantage in the game. Berdych wins the game as Wawrinka mistimes a backhand. SECOND SET: Scores level 3-3 Wawrinka to serve. Wawrinka's backhand goes wide, 0-15. Stan wins a point, 15-15. Good wide serve from Stan, Berdych's return goes long, 30-15. Berdych wins a point, 30-30. Stan wins a point, 40-30. Stan wins the game. SECOND SET: Berdych leads 3-2 Berdych to serve. Good serve to start with for Berdych, 15-0. Another cracker of a backhand from Wawrinka wins him a point, 15-15. Berdych serves another ace, 30-15. Massive serving from Berdych, fires another ace, 40-15. Wawrinka slams another backhand winner, 40-30. Berdych plays good at the nets and wins the game. SECOND SET: Scores level 2-2 Wawrinka to serve. Stan's forehand goes long, 0-15. Berdych's return of serve is way wide, 15-15. Berdych's two-handed backhand finds the net, 30-15. Berdych's forehand lands as a winner, 30-30. Wawrinka slaps another forehand winner, 40-30. Wawrinks wins the game with an ace. Both these players have already served a number of aces. SECOND SET: Berdych leads 2-1 Berdych to serve. Double-fault from Berdych, 0-15. Berdych serves another ace, 15-15. Berdych wins another point off a forehand, 30-15. Stan's forehand goes wide, 40-15 lead for Berdych. Another ace from Berdych and he hold his serve. SECOND SET: Scores level 1-1 Wawrinka to serve. Berdych wins the first point as Wawrinka's forehand hits the net, 0-15. Good rally between the two after which Berdych's forehand goes long, 15-15. Wawrinka wins the point with forehand from the nets, 30-15. On this occasion, Wawrinka's forehand goes long, 30-30. Cross-court forehand from Stan wins him another point, 40-30. Wawrinka's forehand goes long, 40-40, deuce! Wawrinka serves an ace to take the advantage in the game. Berdych's backhand goes long, Wawrinka holds his serve. SECOND SET: Berdych leads 1-0 Berdych to serve. Wawrinka wins the first point with a volley winner, 0-15. Berdych wins a point, 15-15. Wawrinka's forehand hits the net, 30-15. Berdych serves good, 40-15. Berdych serves another ace, wins the game! ======================================================================= FIRST SET: Wawrinka wins it 6-3 Wawrinka to serve for the set. Berdych's cross court forehand hits the nets, 15-0. Berdych tried to attack Wawrinka's serve, just missed the side line, 30-0. Wawrinka's forehand went long, 30-15. Berdych plays an excellent return which landed at Wawrinka's feet and his return hit the nets, 30-30. Powerful ace from Wawrinka, 40-30, set point for Wawrinka! Berdych's backhand goes wide, Wawrinka wins the first set 6-3! FIRST SET: Wawrinka leads 5-3 Berdych to serve. Berdych's shot hits the nets, 0-15. Berdych's forehand goes wide, 0-30. Berdych wins his first point of the game with a volley winner, 15-30. Berdych stretches to his right, as hit forehand hits the nets, 15-40, two break points for Wawrinka! Berdych misses on an easy volley winner, and Wawrinka has broken Berdych's serve! FIRST SET: Wawrinka leads 4-3 Wawrinka to serve. Terrific return of serve from Berdych, 0-15. Stan wins two consecutive points, 30-15. Wawrinka slaps another winner, 40-15. Stan's backhand goes wide, 40-30. Wawrinka wins the game. FIRST SET: Scores level 3-3 Berdych to serve. He starts off with an ace, 15-0. Fires another ace! 30-0. Wawrinka's forehand goes long, 40-0 lead for Berdych. Wawrinka wins a point with a powerful forehand, 30-15. Stan's shot goes long, game for Berdych! FIRST SET: Wawrinka leads 3-2 Wawrinka to serve. Super cross-court forehand from Wawrinka, 15-0. Wawrinka wins another point at the nets this time, 30-0. Berdych's return of serve goes wide, 40-0. Good down the line forehand from Wawrinka who wins the game. FIRST SET: Scores level 2-2 Berdych to serve. Stan wins the first point with a powerful cross-court forehand, 0-15. Berdych wins the second point as Stan's shot goes long, 15-15. Another super backhand from Wawrinka, Berdych had no clue about that one, 15-30. Wawrinka's return of serve lands long, 30-30. Berdych fires an ace to take the lead 40-30. Another good serve from Berdych, he wins the game. Melbourne: Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the first semi-final match between Stanislas Wawrinka and Tomas Berdych. The Australian Open 2014 witnessed one of its very best moments on Wednesday, as 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer comprehensively defeated Andy Murray in four sets to advance into the semis in a much-awaited match where he would be up against Rafael Nadal. But all eyes would at the moment be on Stanislas Wawrinka, who has won the hearts of a number of fans through his incredible one-handed backhand, which helped him knock out the defending champion Novak Djokovic in another epic five-setter. Wawrinka announced himself at the big stage as he defeated the defending champion Novak Djokovic in their quarterfinal encounter. It was a sort of a revenge for the Swiss, who was ousted by Nole in an epic match in 2013, which lasted for just over five hours. While this time, the duration of the match wasn’t over five hours, yet the class displayed by both these players gave birth to a new rivalry. On the other hand, Tomas Berdych ended the run of relentless David Ferrer in their quarterfinal encounter. Berdych won the first two sets, before Ferrer fought back to win the third, but it was the Czech who finally emerged victorious with a 6-1 6-4 2-6 6-4 over the World No. three. Berdych was at his very best against the French Open finalist Ferrer. Against Wawrinka, Berdych will have to be very careful against that backhand which was the key factor in his win against Djokovic.