Roger Federer saves 7 match points, advances in Australian Open

MELBOURNE, Australia — Roger Federer has saved seven match points before fending off 100th-ranked Tennys Sandgren in five sets to reach the Australian Open semifinals for the 15th time.

Federer, who has won six Australian championships among his 20 major titles, took an off-court medical timeout in the third set and was on the verge of a shocking quarterfinal exit in the fourth before rallying to win 6-3, 2-6, 2-6, 7-6 (8) 6-3.

The 38-year-old Federer will next play either seventh-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic or No. 32 Milos Raonic.

A ballkid collided with Sangren during a changeover in the pivotal fourth-set tiebreaker. Sandgren was walking to his court-side seat at 3-3 in the breaker when the ballkid ran along the side of the court and collided with his right calf muscle. The 100th-ranked Sangren told the chair umpire what happened, then stretched his legs and returned to the match.

He had four match points in the tiebreaker but Federer rallied to force the match to a fifth set.