Australian Open 2018: Roger Federer beats Tomas Berdych 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 6-4

He is human after all! Roger Federer has booked his 14th Australian Open semi-final appearance but in a rare moment of emotion, he lambasted the chair umpire in his clash with Tomas Berdych.

Roger Federer was too good for Tomas Berdych — again. AFP PHOTO / Paul Crock

ROGER Federer has overcome a slow start to demolish Tomas Berdych and roar into another Australian Open semi-final.

Federer was down 2-5 in the opening set before finding his range in devastating fashion, completely overwhelming the big Czech 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 6-4 in barely two hours.

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The ageless Swiss maestro and defending champion, 37 in August, is yet to lose a set in his 19th Melbourne Park campaign.

Roger Federer was too good for Tomas Berdych - again.

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He faces giant-killing cult hero Hyeon Chung in the last four — the 14th time Federer has reached the semi-final stage in Australia.

He is also the oldest man to reach the semi-finals here since Ken Rosewell in 1977.

“I hung around. I got a bit lucky, a bit angry, a bit frustrated maybe at the umpire ... I’m very happy I got out of that first set because it ended up being the key to the match,” Federer said.

Federer admonished chair umpire Fergus Murphy in a rare display of annoyance from the ice-cool veteran.

“You can’t steal my challenge now,” Federer told the official. “Are you comfortable with this? Are you okay with it? You can say ‘OK, he’s already been screwed over once; you don’t want it to happen twice in a row’. “It’s your call; you’re the umpire.”

Berdych had beaten Federer six times going into the clash, including matches at Wimbledon, the US Open and the Olympics. It’s a feat not many men in the locker room can claim.

And when the 19th seed broke Federer in his first service game and raced to that 5-2 lead, it looked like he knew how to slay the giant.

But when Berdych failed to convert two set points, Federer smelt blood.

He climbed off the canvas to take 11 of the last 13 points of the set as the winners started to once again flow from his racquet. As he dominated the first-set tiebreak, and the very pro-Federer crowd found full voice, you could feel the life draining out of Berdych’s game.

Berdych fell perhaps too easily.

Berdych succumbed in the second set in just 34 minutes and the third in 43 as perhaps all the demons of those past losses to Federer surfaced.

This was a match almost solely decided off Federer’s racquet. He committed 11 more unforced errors, but blasted 61 winners to Berdych’s 22.

A handful of those winners came via gorgeous drop shots that caught Berdych flat-footed.

“As an opponent you feel helpless; the way he can get that backspin on the drop shot,” Lleyton Hewitt said in commentary.

In Chung, Federer faces a new star for the first time.

“It’s great to see new names on the scene. The way both of them (Chung and Kyle Edmund) made it to the semi’s is highly impressive,” Federer said.

“For Chung to beat Novak (Djokovic) on this court is particularly difficult. He’s incredibly impressive in his movement and he reminds me a lot of Novak.

“I’m really excited playing against him. He’s clearly got nothing to lose, I’ll tell myself the same and we’ll see what happens.”