Safin shocks Federer at Australian Open

Marat Safin of Russia, fourth seed, left, and Roger Federer of Switzerland, top seed, exchange words, after their mens singles semifinal match, at the Australian Open on Rod Laver Arena at Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 27, 2005.

Marat Safin pulled off a stunning upset over world number one Roger Federer to reach the Australian Open final in Melbourne on Thursday.

The odds-on favorite Swiss had 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 will now play either second seed Andy Roddick or Australian hope Lleyton Hewitt in Sunday's final.

"To come back and still fight to win, it's a little bit difficult because psychologically you're upset that you've already had your chances," Safin said.

"For some reason I found the power to fight and tried to wait for my opportunities and eventually they came, even though it took me five, six, seven match points ... It's enough match points.

Following is the match statistics from Marat Safin's 5-7, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6, 9-7 win over Roger Federer in the semi-finals of the Australian Open on Thursday:

Safin (Russia) VS Federer (Switzerland)

1st serve percentage 59% 57%

Aces 16 22

Double faults 1 8

Winning % on 1st serve 91 of 123 - 74% 88 of 107 - 82%

Winning % on 2nd serve 44 of 84 - 52% 41 of 81 - 51%

Winners (including service) 65 72

Unforced errors 60 59

Break point conversions 4 of 13 - 31% 4 of 14 - 29%

Net approaches 45 of 61 - 74% 52 of 68 - 76%

Total points won 194 201

Match duration Four hours 28 minutes

Source: Xinhua