Safin stuns Federer at Australian Open

Marat Safin gave himself the perfect birthday present by an upset win over Federer in the first Oz Open semifinal on Thursday.

Marat Safin gave himself the perfect birthday present by scoring a stunning upset over world number one Roger Federer to reach the Australian Open final on Thursday.

HT Image

Swiss ace Federer, the overwhelming tournament favourite, saw his hopes of a third consecutive grand slam title dashed as Russian fourth seed Safin twice fought back from a set down to win 5-7, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (8/6), 9-7.

Safin, celebrating his 25th birthday, will now play either second seed Andy Roddick or Australian hope Lleyton Hewitt in Sunday's final after securing a thrilling victory in 4hr 28min on the Rod Laver Arena.

It was a dream performance from Safin, who had been trounced in straight sets by Federer in last year's final, and was also a losing finalist at Melbourne Park in 2002.

The Russian saved a match-point in the fourth set tie-break and then put his fans through the shredder when he squandered six match-points amid unbearable tension in a marathon fifth set.

But Safin finally clinched a sensational win on his seventh match-point, when an exhausted Federer stumbled out wide leaving the Russian to send an easy forehand into an open court to win.

The Russian's victory ended Federer's 26-match winning streak, a run stretching back to his defeat in last August's Athens Olympics.