Tennis story by Fred Smith, Sat, 28 Jan 2006 22:24:00 GMT


MELBOURNE - Roger Federer kept his date at the Australian Open and will face Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis in the final on Sunday. Federer, who lost to Marat Safin last year, beat Nicolas Kiefer 6-3, 5-7, 6-0, 6-1 in his semi final match.

The 24-year-old Swiss ace is looking for his seventh Grand Slam title, but believes that it will be a hard match against Baghdatis, "I think he's relaxed enough not to get too worried about all this stuff, it seems," he said. "So I expect him to play a good match. That's what I have to expect. But I just have to make sure my performance is good and make it as hard as possible for him to win. That's what I'm concerned about."

Federer leads Baghdatis 3-0 in their career matches and the most recent of these wins came in Doha earlier this month. But all that will not have any bearing on the match since the 20-year-old Cypriot can expect noisy backing in the Rod Laver Arena on Sunday. "They helped me a lot throughout these two weeks, especially the 'Greek Army' like you call them. I mean, it was great," Baghdatis said of his supporters. "They're fantastic. They are just amazing."

Asked if he was nervous about the prospect of facing Federer in a final, he said, "I've played him in a second round, third round, quarters. Now it's in the final. So every day is different. I will just go in the match and play my game, just try not to make a lot of mistakes, just try to make him play." He feels that staying focused in the opening moves is the key to winning.

Even Federer admitted that he has improved a lot as evidence by wins against Andy Roddick and David Nalbandian, "He beat quality players and he totally deserves to be in the final, you know. Maybe he's changed something in his game," said Federer. "In two weeks he's improved incredibly."

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