Relaxed Federer ready for Murray at Australian Open

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Roger Federer decided the crowd didn’t get quite enough value from his semifinal romp over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, so he worked on his comedy routine.

After dismissing his 10th-seeded opponent 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 Friday night, Federer looked toward the final and the last obstacle between him and a fourth Australian Open title — Andy Murray.

Murray, as the Scotsman is incessantly reminded, will be trying to end a long drought for British men at Grand Slam tournaments when he takes the court Sunday night.

“I know he’d like to win the first for British tennis since, what is it 150,000 years?” Federer cracked during his courtside interview. “The poor guy who has to go through those moments over and over again.”

Reminded later that the dry spell extended only 74 years, Federer smiled.

“Oh,” he said. “I missed it by a little bit.”

The last British man to win a major was Fred Perry in 1936. Murray, who beat Marin Cilic in his semifinal a night earlier, is the first British man in the Open era to reach two Grand Slam finals and the first Brit to make it to a championship match in Australia since John Lloyd in 1977.

“He’s got a lot of expectations. ... The pressure’s going to be tough, so we’ll see how he handles it,” Federer said. “I’ll make sure I’ll make it as tough as possible.”

Federer was asked if he could imagine being in the same position as Murray — carrying the hopes of an entire country long denied.

“You could be one of those nations that never had a Grand Slam champion, you know,” he said. “No, I mean, it’s just funny because that’s the question he probably gets asked quite a bit. Wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a bit fed up by it. I think he’s done really well, handling the pressure and considering the media in England .... he’s done great.”

Federer, winner of a record 15 majors, will be playing in his 22nd Grand Slam final. He was relaxed as ever at Rod Laver Arena in dispatching Tsonga in 11‚Ñ2 hours. Tsonga offered glimpses of sporadic brilliance, but he was no match for the sublime play of Federer.

Murray can take solace in this statistic: He leads Federer 6-4 in career head-to-heads. But the top-ranked Swiss has won the last two and, more important, their only Grand Slam encounter: a straight-sets victory at the 2008 U.S. Open final.

Federer said he’s still driven to win the majors. He came to Australia last year trying to equal Pete Sampras’ record 14 career titles. He left in tears after a five-set loss to Rafael Nadal.

Then came Paris. Federer won his first French Open title to complete a career Grand Slam of clay, grass and hard-court titles.

Murray took out Nadal this time. The Spaniard retired in the third set of their quarterfinal because of an injury to his right knee that is expected to sideline him for a month.

Tsonga ousted the only other man to beat Federer at Melbourne Park in the last five years when he beat 2008 champion and No. 3-ranked Novak Djokovic in the quarters. Djokovic defeated Federer in the semifinals two years ago and Tsonga in the final.

But the quarterfinal victory proved one five-set match too many for Tsonga, who had never gone the full distance at a major before and had to do it twice in consecutive matches to reach the semis.

Serena Williams and sister Venus successfully defended their Australian Open doubles title with a 6-4, 6-3 win over top-seeded Cara Black and Liezel Huber.

It was their 11th Grand Slam doubles title. Serena also has 11 major singles titles, and will be aiming for a 12th Saturday when she plays seven-time Grand Slam winner Justine Henin.