Roger Federer climbed to the top of the world yesterday, felling Juan Carlos Ferrero to reach his first Australian Open final and clinch top spot in the rankings.
The manner of his 6-4, 6-1, 6-4 victory could hardly have been more fitting as he secured the No. 1 spot for the first time.
Having knocked all life out of his Spanish opponent in 89 minutes, Federer knelt on center court and saluted the awe-struck crowd.
"I knew I had the chance to be No. 1 in the world," the Wimbledon champion sighed with relief. "Maybe I have a poker-face most of the time but I felt nervous."
Those nerves were never on show as the stylish Swiss hit shots lesser players only dream of, humbling the French Open champion and world No. 2 in the process.
"I am confident. I mean, have you ever seen a No. 1 in the world who is not that confident?" he joked on court, immediately settling into his new status.
Federer will face mighty Marat Safin in tomorrow's final after the unseeded Russian downed defending champion Andre Agassi in five sets on Thursday.
Federer can be assured vocal support from the ever growing Swiss contingent.
"The Swiss are neutral when it comes to other things but when it comes to sport they are freaking out right now," he laughed.
Looking forward to tomorrow's showpiece, Federer said: "[Marat is] a great player, it will be a great match. He's in the finals and it's very nice to see."
If Federer can reach the heights he scaled in this semifinal, it is hard to see how the 86th-ranked Safin could live with him.
Certainly Ferrero could not handle the swashbuckling Swiss and was left staring into space.
"How good I was today? Not so good," he smiled wryly. "Always he plays very fast for me and with 100 percent you can beat him if you play good. But today I was not 100 percent so could do nothing."
Ferrero said he could feel pain in his legs when he was stretching or recovering and so could not run enough balls down.
The comment did not give Federer credit for a superb performance.
On the Rod Laver Arena he bore down on the net, setting out his game plan from the beginning.
Slashing his serve out wide or into the Spaniard's body, he followed his first one in and cut off the rangy Spaniard's angles.
On his second serve he stayed back, thrashing groundstrokes from side to side as Ferrero scampered to hunt the ball down.
Far from opening defensively, though, Ferrero patrolled the baseline looking for the smallest of openings, pummelling the ball into the smallest of gaps in Federer's armour.
By the time the third set came along the Spaniard was out of ideas and with patience wearing thin. The baseliner attempted ever more audacious drop shots and angled volleys -- more often missing than not -- but managed to stay with the Swiss early in the set.
His fragile confidence was finally shattered in the seventh game when Federer broke him for a fourth time in total, tearing a return back onto the Spaniard's toes.
Serving comfortably he moved to 5-3, one game from victory and he made no mistake, forcing Ferrero to return a forehand long after yet another heavy serve.
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