Roger Federer beats Andy Murray to set up Rafael Nadal semi-final
Swiss master overcomes a blip to eliminate Scot, while Spaniard was lucky to make it through
For a full two sets and nine games, Roger Federer was the picture of poise, picking up half-volleys with vintage panache and placing winners past Andy Murray.
Then, in the bounce of a ball - or two bounces of the ball, depending on opinion - the 17-time major winner was transformed back into the vulnerable, 2013-edition Federer.
After breaking Murray to get a chance to serve for the match last night and a spot in the Australian Open semi-finals for an 11th consecutive year, Federer dropped serve.
He recovered and jumped to a 5-2 lead in the tiebreaker, but then Murray rallied and won six of the last seven points to prolong the quarter-final.
After wasting a handful of break-point chances in Murray's next service game, which lasted almost 19 minutes, Federer finally wore down the Wimbledon champion 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3 to set up a semi-final showdown with top-ranked Rafael Nadal.
"For me it was just a matter of staying calm and forgetting about it a little bit because, you know, the match was great until that point," Federer said.