Gonzalez to face Federer in final

By Bill Scott, dpa

Melbourne (dpa) - Fernando Gonzalez blasted into his first Grand Slam final on Friday with a dominating 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 performance over German Tommy Haas to set up a showdown with Roger Federer at the Australian Open.

The Chilean tenth seed became the second from his nation to advance to a Grand Slam final after Marcelo Rios in Melbourne in 1998.

Gonzalez used his killer forehand to dominate the German from the start as he produced his best career showing at a major. He won the pair's only other meeting at the World Team Championships in 2004.

Federer owns a 9-0 record over the South American, winning their last meeting in the final at Basel in October, 2006. Gonzalez booked his spot after wins over Lleyton Hewitt, James Blake and second seed Rafael Nadal.

The defeat was the third for Haas in an Australian semi-final.

The one-way rout ended precisely on schedule as Australia Day fireworks erupted near to the Rod Laver arena.

Gonzalez did his damage in only 91 minutes, breaking on seven of 12 occasions and never facing a break point.

He had a minuscule three unforced errors while striking 42 winners.

"Today was really a great day for me," said Gonzalez. "In the last four matches I've played great tennis.

"I'm enjoying it a lot. I'm playing all over the court and I'm calm in the important moments.

"I was trying to work the points. It was a really good day for me."

Though he stands a definite underdog after nine losses without a win against Federer, Gonzalez remains confident.

"He's number 1 by far, I've lost to him many times, but I'm playing much better than the last time we met (three months ago).

Gonzalez's best previous Grand Slam result was a quarter-final finish.

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Friday January 26, 2007