Defending champion, Roger Federer reached his third straight Grand Slam final as he eased past German Nicolas Kiefer in the Aussie Open semifinals on Friday. The Swiss world number one, who made it to the semifinals after claiming two hard-fought wins over Tommy Haas in the fourth round and Nikolay Davydenko in the quarterfinals, denied Kiefer a similar chance as he ousted the 21st-seeded German 6-3, 5-7, 6-0, 6-2. Kiefer, who lost the last six meetings against the Swiss, failed to maintain his performance after capturing the second set as Federer raced to win the third and fourth sets in an hour.
Marcos Baghdatis "I had sort of a strange feeling going into this match. Not a negative one, but just like a big excitement because I knew, I'm so close for another Grand Slam," 24-year-old Federer was quoted as saying by BBC Sport. "Nicolas and I have had many close and tough matches over the years, he's beaten me a few times and happily I've beaten him more times than he's beaten me," added Federer, who is now 8-3 against the German. The reigning US Open and Wimbledon champion next takes on surprise finalist, Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus whom which he leads 3-0 in their previous meetings.