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| Switzerland's Roger Federer in action during his semifinal match against Russia's Marat Safin on the Centre Court at Wimbledon, Friday, July 4 , 2008. |
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- Roger Federer beat Marat Safin in straight sets Saturday to move one win away from his sixth consecutive Wimbledon title and 13th Grand Slam championship.
Federer, who hasn't dropped a set all tournament, never lost serve as he outplayed the Russian 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-4 with a nearly flawless performance for his 65th straight win on grass and 40th in a row at the All England Club.
"It's great, a beautiful feeling, being able to get the opportunity to win the title again," Federer said after the clinical 1-hour, 42-minute victory. "It means so much to me."
His opponent in Sunday's final will be the winner of the semifinal between Rafael Nadal and 94th-ranked Rainer Schuettler. Nadal, the four-time French Open champion, has lost to Federer in the last two Wimbledon finals.
Federer, who beat Safin for the ninth time in 11 matches, advanced to his 17th Grand Slam final.
Watching in the Royal Box was Swedish great Bjorn Borg, with whom Federer shares the modern era record of five consecutive Wimbledon titles. The only man to win six in a row was Willie Renshaw in the 1880s, and he only had to win one match to defend his titles.
There had been pre-tournament suggestions that Federer was more vulnerable this year after failing to win a major title this season and losing in a lopsided final to Nadal at the French Open.
"Don't write me off too quickly, because this is my part of the season - Wimbledon, Olympic Games, U.S. Open," Federer said.
Sisters Venus and Serena Williams will face each other in the women's final Saturday, their first Grand Slam championship match in five years.
Between them, four-time champion Venus and two-time winner Serena have won six of the last eight Wimbledon titles. Serena beat her old sister in the 2002 and 2003 championship matches and holds an overall 5-1 edge in Grand Slam finals.
