&to=http://newsfromrussia.com/sport/2002/02/25/26650.html' target=_blank>Marat Safin
fought back from match point down to upset top-ranked Roger Federer and reach the Australian Open final as Serena Williams and Lindsay Davenport rallied to set up an all-U.S. women's championship decider, reports Bloomberg.
Fourth-seeded Safin, the 2000 U.S. Open champion, won 5-7, 6- 4, 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 9-7 at Melbourne Park to snap the defending champion's 24-match winning streak against top-10 players.
Safin, runner-up in Melbourne twice in the past three years, won today with a forehand on his seventh match point to move within one victory of joining 1999 champion &to=http://newsfromrussia.com/sport/2001/10/07/17301.html' target=_blank>Yevgeny Kafelnikov
as a Russian winner of the year's first Grand Slam. He'll take on No.2-ranked Andy Roddick or local favorite Lleyton Hewitt in Sunday's final.
"You have to understand I'm not playing against just a simple player, it's the number one player in the world, Roger," a relieved Safin told reporters.
"For some reason I found the power to fight, to wait for my opportunities and eventually they came," said Safin, who was also beaten in the 2002 Australian final by Swede Thomas Johansson, reports Reuters.
According to The Age, Safin, a beaten finalist in 2002 and 2004, will now play the winner of tonight's semi-final between Australia's Lleyton Hewitt and American Andy Roddick in the final on Sunday and will be thankful for the extra day's rest.
Safin has won only one of his eight matches against Federer and he was overwhelmed to have beaten him at Melbourne park.
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