It is a toss-up whether Stanislas Wawrinka has had the easiest path through the Australian Open of any of the semi-finalists, or the toughest.
Either way, he faces a match against Tomas Berdych on the Rod Laver Arena on Thursday that could amount to his crowning glory or a major anti-climax.
Wawrinka lived up to what everyone said they’d said about him when he beat second seed Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals late on Tuesday night.
The win pushed the 28-year-old Swiss No.2 to the front of the pack chasing down the “big four” and made him the oldest new face in tennis.
Now the player regarded as the most talented never to have made a grand slam final has to come back to earth and beat the seventh-seeded Berdych.
On form, he should.
But at end of the second week of the first major tournament of the season, Wawrinka also has the advantage of being the player who has done the least work.
His first-round opponent retired after only a set and a half and he won a third-round match that was to have been played in abominable heat in a walkover.
“It’s true, I had good luck in the first week when the weather was really bad,” he said.
“But against Novak I had to work hard and the match finished late and I was tired.
“Physically, I think I will be ready. But mentally, I am ready for sure. There is no sign that I’m not going to play well in the semi-final.”
The semi-final might also be something of an anti-climax for Berdych.
The Czech will have expected to meet Djokovic and will have to adjust from underdog to, on paper at least, going in as the favourite.
Despite holding a top-10 ranking for the past four years, Berdych hadn’t won a match on the Rod Laver Arena until he beat third seed David Ferrer there on Tuesday to reach his first Australian Open semi-final and his fourth in a grand slam championship.
Berdych, also 28, has lost to Wawrinka at their three most recent meetings, the latest in the World Tour Finals in London last November.
But he believed he was playing well enough to threaten Djokovic, so he must also rate his chances against Wawrinka.
“I’m playing well, feeling really good,” Berdych said.
“I need to rest, I need to prepare, I need to make the same approach as I did in those past matches, really believe in myself, believe in my game.”
