Federer shows iron-man quality to reach quarters

Reuters: Resilient Roger Federer showed there was still life in the 35-year-old’s legs as he overhauled fifth seed Kei Nishikori 6-7(4) 6-4 6-1 4-6 6-3 on Sunday to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals. 

After six months out of the game, Federer’s fairytale return continued under the lights of Rod Laver Arena where he emphatically quashed doubts about his fitness in three hours and 24 minutes of high-octane tennis. 

Having stormed into the match after a 90-minute demolition of Tomas Berdych, Federer showed his appetite for a grind, going toe-to-toe with the fleet-footed Japanese in a match littered with marathon points. 

Federer will play Mischa Zverev for a place in the semi-finals, the German having earlier upset top seed Andy Murray on the same centre court. 

With second seed Novak Djokovic also eliminated, Federer holds genuine hope of ending his five-year wait to add to his record 17 grand slam titles. 

Those hopes seemed in vain for a period against Nishikori as Asia’s first men’s grand slam finalist roared to a 4-0 lead before weathering a Federer fightback to take the first set on a tiebreak.