Roger Federer survived a sluggish start to progress to the 2018 Australian Open semi-finals on Wednesday, beating Tomas Berdych 7-6(1), 6-3, 6-4 to make the last four of the tournament for the third year in succession. 

Federer's win was eclipsed, however, by the achievement of his upcoming semi-final opponent, Hyeon Chung, who became the first South Korean to make a Grand Slam final following his 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-3 win over Tennys Sandgren.

Chung carried the momentum through from his recent back-to-back wins over seeded stars Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev, besting Sandgren in three sets to set up a semi-final date opposite Federer.

Simona Halep and Angelique Kerber will collide in the semi-finals of the women's singles, meanwhile, after they defeated Karolina Pliskova and Madison Keys, respectively, to advance in the tournament.

Read on for a roundup of Wednesday's scores and highlights from the day's entertainment at the 2018 Australian Open.

Wednesday's Results

Men's Quarter-Finals

Hyeon Chung def. Tennys Sandgren: 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-3

(2) Roger Federer def. (19) Tomas Berdych: 7-6(1), 6-3, 6-4

Women's Quarter-Finals

(1) Simona Halep def. (6) Karolina Pliskova: 6-3, 6-2

(21) Angelique Kerber def. (17) Madison Keys: 6-1, 6-2

Recap

Still yet to drop a set in the tournament this year, Federer's progress through the Australian Open field continued with a straight-sets defeat of Czech giant Berdych, who fell to the Swiss veteran 7-6(1), 6-3, 6-4.

Federer trailed by three games to love early in the first set but showed great resolve to return from that deficit and take all three sets, and Eurosport UK illustrated the composure he's prone to display under pressure:

After downing a known quantity in Berdych, he'll be coming up against a more mysterious foe in Chung, whom he is yet to face in his career.

As well as becoming the first South Korean to make a Grand Slam semi-final, Chung's 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-3 victory over Sandgren also made him the youngest player to reach a major semi-final in some eight years.

It was in 2010 that Marin Cilic, who was also 21 at the time, made the Australian Open's last four, although Gracenote Olympic attested to Chung's achievement still being a record for his continent:

Sandgren looked confident on his serve but won only 45 percent of second-service points compared to Chung's comparative percentage of 62, per the official Australian Open website.

The South Korean has the biggest test of his tournament so far coming up, but that didn't prevent the underdog from soaking up some of Wednesday's win:

The same could be said for Kerber, who is showing early signs of returning to her 2016 best this year, with Wednesday's 6-1, 6-2 thumping of Keys being the latest indicator toward that.

Tennis writer Jose Morgado explained just how one-sided Wednesday's outing against her American opponents was, conserving energy for what promises to be a much more difficult task next time out:

Halep ultimately looked the far more convincing contender after she beat Pliskova 6-3, 6-2, but the win didn't always look secure after she trailed 0-3 in the opening set, via Eurosport UK:

The veteran thundered back in style, however, and won six games in successions to steal the first set before wrapping up the second in quicker fashion, Pliskova falling victim after pushing the relentless Romanian early on.

Both Kerber and Halep are displaying brilliant tennis and will battle for the right to face either Caroline Wozniacki or unseeded underdog Elise Mertens in the finale.