Australian Open 2011 Tennis Results, Day 9: Roger Federer, Caroline Wozniacki, Novak Djokovic Sail To Semis

Scores and highlights from Day 9 of the Australian Open 2011. The top half of the women’s semifinals and the bottom half of the men’s are set. Who’s playing on, and how’d they get there?
• No. 2 Roger Federer def. No. 19 Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-1 6-3 6-3.
No buddy comedy here. The two Swiss compatriots and former Olympic doubles partners are intimately familiar with one another’s playing style, which has to be interesting for Wawrinka. Other players may take the court thinking they can best the “aging” Federer, but he knows from first serve exactly what he’s up against. After that second-round nailbiter, it’s been smooth sailing for the 2-seed, and all that rest is about to come in handy: It’s Federer vs. Djokovic in the semis, an instant classic that hasn’t even happened yet.
• No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki def. No. 6 Francesca Schiavone, 3-6 6-3 6-3.
Was Schiavone gassed after that marathon match? It didn’t look that way in the first set. Or at the end, at one set all when the world No. 1 needed four match points to best a six-seed. We’re sad to be losing one of the two most captivating interviews after the next round, but it must be so: Wozniacki draws Li Na in the semis, and somebody’s got to go home.
• No. 3 Novak Djokovic def. No. 6 Tomas Berdych, 6-1 7-6 (7-5) 6-1.
Next to Wozniacki’s first-set stutters, this was as close to upset drama as it got on Day 9 (which is not say, not at all close). Let’s gloss over this already and get to talking about Djokovic’s upcoming showdown with Federer, whom he bested here in the finals in ‘08, and again at the semis at Flushing Meadows last summer in one of the tourney’s most thrilling matches. Federer’s got last, however, having beaten Djokovic in the semis of the World Tour Finals in London last November.
• No. 9 Li Na def. No. 30 Andrea Petkovic, 6-2 6-4.
Bye-bye, victory dance. Petkovic broke Li’s serve twice, but each time, the bubbly Chinese star seemed to take it in, focus, and come back twice as hitting twice as skillfully. You’re going to hear a lot about China never having a player winning a singles Grand Slam event, and Li certainly has made an excellent run -- she hasn’t dropped a set yet in Melbourne -- only now she has to get past Wozniacki.
• In doubles quarterfinal action: the top-seeded Brothers Bryan defeated Jurgen Melzer and Philipp Petzscner in straight sets, 6-3 7-6 (9-7), while on the women’s side the ninth-seeded team of Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Meghann Shaughnessy fell to No. 2 Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik, 6-3 6-3.
Stay tuned to SB Nation Tennis for more highlights of quarterfinals play on Day 9 of the 2011 Australian Open.