Federer's accidental dig at Jim Courier

Roger Federer delivered a showcourt masterclass to surge into his 40th grand slam semi-final at Melbourne Park.

Federer crushed sixth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 6-4 for his record 80th Australian Open win.

Then the 17-time Grand Slam champion delivered an interview masterclass with Channel 7's Jim Courier immediately after the match.

The playful 34-year-old promised to deliver a shot that Courier wanted to see and then took an accidental dig at the American all in the space of two sentences.

When asked by Courier why he hasn't performed the controversial Sneak Attack By Roger (SABR) move this tournament, Federer responded: "You want to see it?"

"I'll definitely play at least one in the next match. I'll put it that way. I enjoy playing it. You have to be in the right frame of mind. You have to be confident up there. Not that I'm not confident, but, I don't know, I'm just not feeling it quite yet.

"Maybe I'll just hit the practice courts and just do that tomorrow."

Then he accidentally delivered a brutal sledge to Courier and the player's of the four-time slam champ's generation.

"It's one point. Let's not get carried away," he said of his decision to try out the move in the semi-finals of a grand slam.

"One point's not usually going to decide a match any more. These days it's a lot of forehands. A lot of backhands. A lot of serves. A lot of running. It's not like it used to be."

Courier replied after a pause: "I understand, thankyou for that dig".

The peerless Swiss rode roughshod over Berdych, needing barely two hours to set up a last-four showdown on Thursday with world No.1 and defending champion Novak Djokovic.

Third-seeded Federer will be playing for a place in the title match in Melbourne for the first time since claiming a fourth trophy in 2010.

He should be bristling with confidence after breaking Berdych on five occasions and crunching 46 winners to romp into the Open semi-finals for the 12th time in 13 years.

- news.com.au