Top seed Roger Federer spanked German bad boy Nicolas Kiefer 6-3, 5-7, 6-0, 6-2 on Friday to join giantkiller Marcos Baghdatis in the Australian Open men's final.
The seemingly invincible Federer stormed into his seventh Grand Slam final in three and a half years with another imperious display to set-up a promoter's dream final against the newest kid on the Grand Slam block.
"I think we're all surprised he got so far," Federer told a news conference.
"There are other very talented youngsters who I thought would make the break before him but he's proved us all wrong."
Baghdatis has captured the sporting world's imagination with his fairytale run to the final but the Cypriot showman will need to conjure up another miracle to beat the world number one after his impressive form against the feisty Kiefer.
The German has been fined $6,000 during the tournament for various offences, including unsportsmanlike behaviour and swearing.
They split the first two sets but Federer, struggling initially to cope with variations of playing indoors after rain forced the closure of the Rod Laver Arena roof, raised his game when he needed to and ran away with the final two sets.
"I'm really happy to be back in the finals. This is what I was hoping for at the beginning at the tournament but it's a long road," Federer said.
"I was rather nervous going into this match. I don't know why, but that's okay."
Kiefer, playing in his first Grand Slam semi-final in a decade as a professional, said: "I think it was a great match, but of course I'm disappointed.
"To beat this guy you have take a lot of risks. You have to play at the absolute limit."
LOCAL PAIRING
Martina Hingis also stayed in the hunt for another Grand Slam title when she and her Indian playing partner Mahesh Bhupathi reached the mixed doubles final, defeating the local pairing of Paul Hanley and Samantha Stosur 6-3, 6-3.
The former world number one made the quarter-finals of the women's singles in her first Grand Slam since retiring in 2002 and now has the chance to win her first mixed doubles title.
Hingis was a brilliant doubles player in her prime, winning 36 titles, including nine majors, but rarely played mixed doubles and her best effort was reaching the US Open semi-finals in 1996.
While Hingis is looking to recapture past glories, women's tennis took a sneak preview at the future when China claimed their first Grand Slam title.
Zheng Jie and Yan Zi teamed up to win the women's doubles final, beating the top seed pairing of Stosur and American Lisa Raymond 2-6, 7-6, 6-3, in a sure sign of things to come.
"It will be good for Chinese tennis," said Yan, speaking through a translator.
Justine Henin-Hardenne and Amelie Mauresmo were also toeing the diplomatic line when they fronted the media to talk about Saturday's women's championship final.
Eighth seed Henin-Hardenne is hoping to put a year of injuries behind her by winning her second Australian title and her fifth Grand Slam crown.
Henin-Hardenne won the Australian Open in 2004 but could not defend her title last year. She said her enforced lay-off had given her a new perspective and that she was grateful to be back at the peak of her game.
"I missed that so much in the past few months. That's why I'm playing tennis, because I love to play in this kind of atmosphere, on big courts [with] good crowds," she said.
Third seed Mauresmo showed immense potential when she made the 1999 final in Melbourne as an unseeded 19-year-old, losing to Hingis, but has since failed to live up to that early promise at Grand Slams.
The powerful Frenchwoman bristled at suggestions she is a choker after she went some way to assuaging doubts about her ability to close out big matches when she won the season-ending WTA Championships in Los Angeles in November.
"I'm getting tougher and tougher as my career goes on. Now I know I'm capable of getting to these occasions and I'm really considering having some more," she said.
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