Wimbledon-Federer wary of Safin threat

Tag : REX RABBIT
When Marat Safin arrived at Wimbledonand looked at the draw he was already checking airline schedulesfor a flight out of London early in the first week.
Now he stands just one match away from an unlikely Wimbledon finalafter suddenly rediscovering the form that once took him right tothe top of the men's game.
The fact that Roger Federer awaits in the semi-final spells troublefor the burly Russian but after wins against third seed NovakDjokovic, 13th seed Stanislas Wawrinka and dangerous SpaniardFeliciano Lopez, Safin's fans are starting to believe.
With Safin's blockbuster clash with Federer taking centre stage onFriday, Rafael Nadal's semi-final against Rainer Schuettlerthreatens to be a lop-sided affair if the rampant Spaniard plays ashe did against Britain's Andy Murray in the quarter-finals.
It would be a huge surprise if Federer and Nadal were not onopposite sides of the net on Sunday.
Federer has yet to drop a set at this year's tournament as hechases a modern era record of six consecutive Wimbledon titles buthe will be wary of the unpredictable Safin.
In 2005, the two players served up one of the most memorablematches ever seen at the Australian Open when Safin won theirsemi-final in five sets after saving a match point.
Safin went on to win the title against Lleyton Hewitt but sincethen his career has gone into reverse and this season he wasreduced to having to qualify for Masters Series events.
Federer, who will be contesting a record 17th consecutive grandslam semi-final, knows how dangerous he can be even if he did beathim in straight sets here last year.
DISLIKES SURFACE
"I never looked at Marat like 89th in the world. I mean,that's ridiculous," Federer said after his quarter-finalvictory over Mario Ancic. "He knows that himself. He's finallyshowing again what he can do.
"It's just quite surprising he does it here at Wimbledon insome ways, because he used to dislike playing on this surface. Lastyear I wasn't happy to see Safin in my draw. I'm never happy and heprobably knows that."
Two-times grand slam champion Safin, 28, trails Federer 8-2 incareer meetings but will have nothing to lose on Friday and says hewill savour the moment.
"It's not the same when you're 20-years old and the first timeyou make (grand slam) semi-finals. You think you are flying. Youare not even touching the ground," he said. "Now it's alittle bit different."
Safin was quick to play down his chances of upsetting Federer andeven indulged in a little kidology, forgetting how many times theSwiss has won Wimbledon.
"The guy has won how many times already here? I mean, five,six times already, and he's on the way to win his seventh title.It's my first semi-final, so levels are a little bitdifferent," he said.
"To beat Federer you need to be Nadal and run around like arabbit and hit winners from all over the place. It's another chancefor me. But I think it's just a little bit too difficult."
Nadal, who won his fourth consecutive French Open title and backedthat up with his first grasscourt title at Queen's Club lookedmenacing against Murray, who afterwards tipped the Majorcan muscleman to win the title.
Nadal said he was concentrating only on his semi-final but one eyewill already be on a re-match with Federer.
Ominously for everyone else, the 22-year-old said his grasscourtgame is much better than last year and he gave the distinctimpression that another runners-up plate will not be welcome in histrophy cabinet.
"Last year was close. Only one more point and probably I havethe trophy in my home," he said. "It was disappointing tohave another plate. If Federer can improve I can improve."