Three in a row for Federer and Nadal

By Pritha Sarkar

LONDON (Reuters) - Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal cleared the last treacherous hurdles on Friday to set up a dream final at Wimbledon for the third year running.

Five-times champion Federer earned the chance to re-ignite one of the most fascinating rivalries in sport when he suffocated Russian maverick Marat Safin 6-3 7-6 6-4 at the All England Club.

Federer was delayed on Centre Court for an hour and 40 minutes to extend his unbeaten grasscourt streak to 65 matches. Twice runner-up Nadal took 20 minutes longer but needed fewer games to dispatch Rainer Schuettler 6-1 7-6 6-4.

Federer will be eager to settle a score on Sunday. When the Swiss tactician and Majorcan muscleman faced off in the French Open final last month, Federer was on the receiving end of an absolute mauling, pocketing just four games.

Fans and pundits alike predicted his aura of invincibility was fading fast but over the last fortnight, Federer has sliced through a tricky draw to silence his detractors. He reached the final without dropping a set.

"You can say whatever you like, it's a free world here," said the 12-times grand slam champion.

"I was a little bit surprised how intense it was but I think it happened because Rafa played so well in Paris, beat me so easily. Then went on to win Queen's as well.

"But don't write me off too quickly because this is my part of the season now... I'm on an incredible winning streak on grass. First somebody has to be able to break that before we start talking differently."

NO BELIEF

Safin certainly did not believe he had the ability to break that run when he realized who his semi-final opponent would be and so it proved on Friday.

The 28-year-old scaled the Himalayas last year but did not even come close to pushing Federer off the Wimbledon summit.

The moody Russian, sulked, screamed and smashed his racket into a courtside chair en-route to lopsided defeat.

Those hoping for a repetition of Safin's amazing victory from match point down over Federer in the semi-final of the 2005 Australian Open were deeply disappointed.

The former world number one, now ranked 75th, was outclassed by a combination of Federer's piercing serves and razor sharp returns.

"(It) was terrible... he did not even give me a chance," said Safin, whose record against Federer now stands at 2-9.