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