Win would give Federer sixth straight title

Swiss star will face archrival Nadal after easily beating Safin

By Howard Fendrich, Associated Press

Published July 4, 2008 at 8:30 a.m.

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Photo by Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press

Roger Federer of Sweden acknowledges the crowd Friday after advancing to the Wimbledon men’s singles final with a 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-4 victory over Marat Safin of Russia.

Add up all Roger Federer's greatness on grass courts and the numbers are striking: 40 wins in a row at Wimbledon, 65 overall on the surface.

Now he seeks an additional victory, a victory that would make him the first man since the 1880s to win six consecutive Wimbledon titles, a victory that would give him a 13th Grand Slam championship, one shy of Pete Sampras' career record - and a victory that would come against his only real rival in the game, Rafael Nadal.

No. 1 Federer and No. 2 Nadal set up their third straight showdown in the Wimbledon final, and sixth meeting in a major title match, by handily beating unseeded opponents Friday. Federer eliminated Marat Safin 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 in the first semifinal, and Nadal defeated Rainer Schuettler 6-1, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4.

"There's one more left," Federer said. "I don't think it matters really a lot if I'm the favorite or not. I'm on an incredible winning streak on grass. First, somebody has to be able to break that before we start talking differently."

He reached his 16th Grand Slam final, tying him with Bjorn Borg for fourth-most in history. Borg was the last man to win five straightWimbledon titles. The only man with six in a row was Willie Renshaw from 1881-86, but he merely needed to win one match in each of his five title defenses because, back then, the reigning champion got a bye directly into the final.

"A little different," Federer said.

On the other hand, the ease with which Federer dominates the All England Club these days sort of makes it seem as though he's getting a pass to the second Sunday. For the second time in three years, he's reached the final without losing a set.

"He didn't even give me a chance," said Safin, a former No. 1 with two major titles.

Federer walked out in his custom-designed cream cardigan, the one with the gold "RF" on the chest. Safin, in contrast, looked as though he might have just rolled out of bed, emerging from the locker room with his T-shirt wrinkled, his sneakers untied, his hair mussed. During the third set, a woman in the crowd yelled, "Come on, Safin, wake up!"

Federer hit 14 aces, took 70 of 90 points in his service games and faced only two break points. Both came with Safin leading 2-1 in the second set, and Federer erased them in similar fashion: a second serve delivered right at Safin's body, setting up short returns that led to forehand winners.

Federer's return game was working, too, and he broke Safin in the match's second game and its last one. Asked if it was easy out there, Federer said, "Easy in terms of being able to control a really dangerous player who's got the potential to upset anyone - in this aspect, yes."

One example: Safin beat No. 3 Novak Djokovic last week. It was Djokovic who ended Federer's record run of reaching 10 consecutive major finals by stopping him at this year's Australian Open, then wondered aloud before Wimbledon whether the Swiss star was slipping. Djokovic thought Federer's 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 loss to Nadal in last month's French Open final - his worst loss in 179 career Grand Slam matches - might have left him "a little bit shaken."

Federer has scoffed at such suggestions and did so again Friday.

"For me, anyway, that final is out of the picture. I hardly remember anything of it. It went so quickly," he said.

Like Federer, Nadal faced only two break points Friday, and while the Spaniard did get broken once, he never was in true trouble. Thanks to that break, the 94th-ranked Schuettler went ahead 2-1 in the second set, then served for it at 5-4.

But Nadal broke the 2003 Australian Open runner-up there to pull even, and that was pretty much that.

WOMEN'S FINAL: Sisters Venus and Serena Williams will face each other in the women's final today, their first Grand Slam championship match in five years.

Between them, four-time champion Venus and two-time winner Serena have won six of the past eight Wimbledon titles. Serena beat her older sister in the 2002 and 2003 championship matches and holds an overall 5-1 edge in Grand Slam finals.

RESULTS

Friday at Wimbledon, England

Singles

Men's singles, semifinals: Roger Federer (1), Switzerland, def. Marat Safin, Russia, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4. Rafael Nadal (2), Spain, def. Rainer Schuettler, Germany, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4.

Men's doubles, semifinals: Daniel Nestor, Canada, and Nenad Zimonjic (2), Serbia, def. Lukas Dlouhy, Czech Republic, and Leander Paes (9), India, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-1, 4-6, 8-6.

Women's doubles, semifinals: Serena and Venus Williams (11), United States, def. Nathalie Dechy, France, and Casey Dellacqua, Australia, 6-3, 6-3. Lisa Raymond, United States, and Samantha Stosur (16), Australia, def. Cara Black, Zimbabwe, and Liezel Huber (1), United States, 6-3, 6-3.

SHOW COURT SCHEDULE

Play begins at 7 a.m. MDT today

Women's singles championship: Serena Williams (6), United States, vs. Venus Williams (7), United States

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