Tennis
Federer, Nadal roll unhindered into third Wimbledon final (Roundup)
By Bill Scott
Jul 4, 2008, 17:20 GMT

London - Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal ran down the opposition Friday as the power pair set up their third straight final at the Wimbledon Championships to fulfill all predictions.

Federer crushed resurgent Russian Marat Safin with a flawless, gold-standard display 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 while Nadal faltered only briefly with as he lost serve in the second set before rolling Rainer Schuettler 6-1, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4.

'I'm very happy to be in the final for another time,' said Nadal, who has lost to Federer at the last two editions but moved very closer in the scoreline.

'Wimbledon is a good event for me. If I'm to have a chance I have to play my best tennis.'

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, lifting five titles.

He will be appearing in his sixth straight final at the All England club.

'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,' said the player who stands just two Grand Slam titles away from levelling the all-time best of 14 set by Pete Sampras.

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.

'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.'

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

'The beginning was terrible, I should have stayed with him a little bit longer,' said Safin, champion at the 2000 US Open and 2005 in Australia.

'But he takes advantage. It was my first (Wimbledon) semi-final. I was a little bit nervous.'

Against former number five Schuettler, Nadal blasted through the first set in just 23 minutes committing a single unforced error.

But the four-time french Open winner temporarily lost some focus, due perhaps to his lack of confidence in his footing. Schuettler, 32, found himself leading 3-1 in the second set before the second seed closed the gap and re-stabilised his game.

'The court was slippery and I didn't feel very comfortable with the movement. I'll change shoes for the final,' said nadal, woh fell at one points and bloodied his left knee.

'Maybe today was not my best match at this Wimbledon,' said Nadal. 'But I won in three set and it's very important.

'I'm into the final with good confidence. Anything can happen. Roger is playing well - but I'm playing well also.'

In the Federer contest, 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.'