Tennis
Near-perfect Federer books sixth Wimbledon final (1st Lead)
By Bill Scott
Jul 4, 2008, 15:39 GMT

London - Roger Federer played as close to perfection as possible as he reached a sixth straight Wimbledon final, controlling dangerous Marat Safin with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 display on Friday.

The Swiss will wait for an opponent in the Sunday title match as second seed Rafael Nadal plays German outsider Rainer Schuettler. Federer and Nadal have played the last two finals at the All England club.

'It was easy in terms of being able to control a really dangerous player who's got the potential to upset anyone,' said Federer.

'I was able to break him in the first game of the match and in the last game of the match. In between I was just really consistent, didn't really give him too many chances. It was a perfect match for me.'

Federer won his 65th straight match on grass after last losing on the surface in 2002. He has been victorious in his last 40 contests at Wimbledon.

'The beginning was terrible, I should have stayed with him a little bit longer,' said Safin. 'But he takes advantage. It was my first (Wimbledon) semi-finals. I was a little bit nervous.'

World number one Federer has now claimed his sixth match out of seven against Safin, who won the 2005 Australian Open at Federer's expense with a victory in their semi-final.

Safin, first Russian to reach the last four at Wimbledon, stands 2-9 in the career series as Federer reached the final without losing a set with a victory on one hour, 40 minutes.

'I haven't had many problems whatsoever throughout The Championships. It's been a perfect way to the final,' said the winner. 'But there's one more left.

'I need to win to get it. But so far it's been quite unbelievable, actually.'

The volatile Safin, who appeared almost sedate in the early stages, finally erupted in a racket smash as he pounded in on his chair after Federer eased ahead 5-4 in the third set.

Federer seized the win a game later as the Russian's returned bounced for an instant on the net cord, giving Federer a clear shot at a perfect cross-court winner.

'The ball hit the net and I needed the angle to make the shot and I got it.

'He's always very fiery as a character,' Federer said of the two- time Grand Slam winner Safin. 'He's never really changed over all the years.

'It's always a little dangerous because he gets the crowd involved. The momentum can shift sometimes because of it.'

Federer came out firing as he scooped the opening set in 24 minutes, won the second in a tiebreak and completely dominated Safin in the end.

After playing in his 17th straight Grand Slam semi-final, Federer's easy victory vaulted him into a 16th career Grand Slam final.