• Australian Open, Day Nine

What They Said

Caroline Wozniacki will lose the No. 1 ranking © Getty Images

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Roger Federer continued to speak positively of his Australian Open chances after he beat Juan Martin Del Potro to reach the semi-finals: "I'm very happy. I thought it was a great match," Federer said. "It was tough with the sun creeping across the court but it was a quality match against a wonderful player. I know how hard he can hit the ball but I was able to manoeuvre him around."

Rafael Nadal set up a mouth-watering semi-final showdown with Federer as the Spaniard recovered from losing the first set against Tomas Berdych to see the Czech off 6-7 7-6 6-4 6-3: "The second set was probably the key of the match for me," said Nadal. "I started returning a little bit inside the court after being 20 metres behind the baseline. For the first two sets I didn't feel I had a lot of chances to play for a lot of points when he was serving, so I tried to find a solution for that, and by the end of the match I finished it returning fantastic."

Kim Clijsters almost let a strong lead slip as she finished off her match against Caroline Wozniacki in a second-set tiebreaker. The defending champion was relieved afterwards, saying: "It definitely didn't feel like being up a set and 5-2. I had to work really hard for it. I think she changed up her tactics a little bit and became a little more aggressive. I was happy to get through and not go to a three-setter because it's so hot."

Wozniacki is now set to lose her No. 1 status following her defeat to Clijsters, but took a pragmatic approach to defeat: "To be honest I don't really think about it," said the Dane. "I have been there for a long time already, I finished No. 1 one two years in a row. We are just in January. At the end of the year you see who has played the best, most consistently all year round. I will get it back eventually, so I'm not worried. Obviously it's never fun to lose, but you learn more from your losses than you do from your wins."

Agnieszka Radwanska was humble in the defeat to her good friend Victoria Azarenka, though she did rue her poor form after claiming the first set, saying: "To be honest, it was very good match, especially the first set. It was very tight. On the other side it was kind of weird because a lot of breaks. I think whole (first) set was just breaks. Service was not the big weapon in this case. Then I think she just start to play very aggressive and much better. I was really in trouble."

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