| Friday, 4 July 2008 Written by Ron Atkin Roger Federer took another huge step towards retaining his Wimbledon title when he defeated the unseeded Marat Safin 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 to reach Sunday's final. So after six matches in this year’s Championships, the five-time champion was able to celebrate 18 successive sets won and another brilliant performance that blew away an opponent who had moved through the draw with increasing menace. The Russian had beaten Federer in 2005 on the way to winning the Australian Open but there was little likelihood of that achievement being repeated here. However, once the Russian settled down after a nervous and wayward start his savvy ensured that Federer was stretched more than in any other match so far. Federer, who had dropped only 10 points on serve in his quarter-final win over Mario Ancic, came out of the starting stalls like the thoroughbred he is. He was 3-0 up after eight minutes, mainly thanks to some over-hitting from Safin, which led to angry bouncing of the racquet. Though he eventually settled, Safin was able to make no impact on the Federer serve. The five-time champion closed out the opening set in 24 minutes, having dropped a mere four points on serve. Safin, serving with more depth and accuracy in the second set, held serve regularly and began to make inroads on the Federer delivery. In the fourth game Safin engineered his first break points but Federer averted both with forehand winners of power and depth. With both men dominant on serve, a tie-break was the inevitable outcome of the second set, and here it was Safin who cracked when his backhand, the strong point of his game, let him down on three big points, permitting Federer to go two sets up with the match 68 minutes old. Still Safin plugged away determinedly and to such effect that for the first time in the Championships Federer was flat out to keep his nose in front in the third set. But the tension eventually proved too much for the suspect Safin temperament. At the 5-4 changeover, having bounced his racquet angrily, the Russian then smashed it as he made his way back to his chair, collecting a code of conduct violation from umpire Lars Graff. Safin’s concentration had been fatally fractured and he fell match point down in the next game after one hour 42 minutes. Federer immediately pounced, striking a gorgeous backhand cross-court winner off a net cord to seal his 65th consecutive victory on grass.
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