Safin sends Federer packing

Tennis/ Australian Open: Roger Federer was on his knees when Russia's Marat Safin, the game's greatest enigma, hit the winning shot to knock the reigning champion out of the Australian Open in the Rod Laver Arena.

The world number one, who lost only six matches last year and won three of the four slam titles, had slipped when desperately attempting to save a seventh match point against him in the final set.

It was a stupendous defensive effort by the Swiss whose psychological hold on all his rivals on hard courts had appeared absolute. But Safin, who was celebrating his 25th birthday, had loomed as the most likely danger from the moment the draw was made. Even so, his 5-7, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6, 9-7 victory came as an enormous shock.

The Russian, twice runner-up in this tournament and beaten by Federer in last year's final, is a man of immense power and prodigious ability. He won the 2000 US Open by pulverising Pete Sampras in his own backyard, and was immediately hailed as the "future of tennis" by the American.

Since that equally shocking victory at Flushing Meadows Safin has struggled to fulfil his obvious potential and has remained a one-slam wonder, largely because of the fragility of his temperament.

This was the most mature and professional performance of his life, masterminded by Federer's former coach Peter Lundgren, who was ditched by the Swiss towards the end of 2003 and joined forces with Safin in spring last year. Lundgren could barely contain his delight as the match, which lasted nearly four and a half hours, reached its almost unbearable climax.

"Roger had brought tennis a level higher. Normally he toys with everybody because he has put the bar so high," said Safin, who struggled for words to describe his victory, so great were the emotions swirling through his mind and body. He refused to concede he was now the favourite for the title after beating Federer, but, like it or not, he is.

This defeat brought to an end a winning run of 26 matches for Federer, stretching back to his defeat by the little-known Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic in the Olympic Games in Athens.

More remarkably, he had won his last 24 matches against top-10 players, stretching back to October 2003 when he lost to the then number one Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain.

Discarding last year's French Open, when he lost in the third round to the three-times champion Gustavo Kuerten, Federer had won 26 consecutive grand slam matches on hard courts and grass. The Swiss has never bragged about his achievements, but an aura of invincibility had grown about him, with all the top players prepared to admit at the end of last year that he was head and shoulders clear of them. Now, thanks to Safin, he will be seen in a slightly different light.

Federer and Safin had met seven times before, the Russian's lone win coming in Moscow in 2002. A seventh defeat for Safin looked virtually certain when at 5-6 in the fourth-set tie-break he somehow threw up a lob from an audacious Federer drop-volley. The Swiss tried to return the ball through his legs, the only shot he could play, but failed. It was his last clear-cut chance.

The world number one was never at his very best, and had treatment at the end of the fourth set for a problem with his right arm, but rarely if ever can Safin have played so consistently to such a high quality.

Last year he defeated both Andy Roddick and Andre Agassi, likewise the reigning champion, in the semi- and quarter-finals respectively, but had nothing left for the final against Federer.

"When I played Sweden's Thomas Johansson in the 2002 final here I was too nervous because I was the favourite and I could not deal with the pressure. Last year I ran out of gas and had no chance," said Safin.

Federer had not surrendered a set in any of his previous four semi-finals. However, he had lost all three of his previous five-set matches in Melbourne, two in the Australian Open and the third, most famously, in the same Rod Laver Arena against Lleyton Hewitt in the 2003 Davis Cup semi-final when he had led by two sets. In sharp contrast, Safin now has a 6-0 five-set record in the Open here.

On a day that also saw the defeat of the women's Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova, of Russia, Federer was subdued but not disheartened.

"Losing after having a match point always hurts, but just a point here and there changed the match. My whole life is pressure and this is nothing different."

Guardian Service