Marat Safin gave himself the perfect birthday present by scoring a stunning upset over world number one Roger Federer to reach the Australian Open final here on Thursday. Swiss ace Federer, the overwhelming tournament favourite, saw his hopes of a third consecutive grand slam title dashed as Russian fourth seed Safin twice fought back from a set down to win 5-7, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (8/6), 9-7.
Safin, celebrating his 25th birthday, will now play either second seed Andy Roddick or Australian hope Lleyton Hewitt in Sunday's final after securing a thrilling victory in 4hr 28min on the Rod Laver Arena.
It was a dream performance from Safin, who had been trounced in straight sets by Federer in last year's final, and was also a losing finalist at Melbourne Park in 2002.
The Russian saved a match-point in the fourth set tie-break and then put his fans through the shredder when he squandered six match-points amid unbearable tension in a marathon fifth set.
But Safin finally clinched a sensational win on his seventh match-point, when an exhausted Federer stumbled out wide leaving the Russian to send an easy forehand into an open court to win.
The Russian's victory ended Federer's 26-match winning streak, a run stretching back to his defeat in last August's Athens Olympics.
The rollercoaster men's semi-final mirrored action in the women's draw earlier on Thursday, where former world number one Serena Williams and top seed Lindsay Davenport both came back from the brink of defeat. Williams pulled off an extraordinary escape to defeat fourth-seeded Russian teenager Maria Sharapova, saving three match-points to win 2-6, 7-5, 8-6 in 2hr 39 min.
Top seed Davenport, meanwhile, was made to work just as hard before she finally overcame French 19th seed Nathalie Dechy 2-6, 7-6 (7/5) 6-4 in a nerve-jangling encounter on the Rod Laver Arena.
In the end, the experience of Williams and Davenport, who have nine grand slam titles between them, was to prove crucial.
For Williams, it was history revisited. Her undulating match bore a striking resemblance to her 2003 Australian Open semi-final with Kim Clijsters, when she saved two match points before going on to win.
Williams said she had been comforted by the memory of that Houdini act as she fought off three match points on Sharapova's serve when trailing 5-4 in the final set.
"I thought, 'Okay, Serena, you're down match-point but that's okay, you've been down match-point before.' So I thought, 'Okay, I could do this'."
Williams said the victory ranked among her most satisfying.
"Those are always the best wins, when you're down match-point because it's like you realise that you can't give up," she said.
Williams said she had kept her composure despite a high unforced error count - 53 throughout - which allowed Sharapova a free ride throughout the early part of the match.
"I was battling Maria and myself," Williams said. "I was playing two opponents because I was making a tremendous amount of errors. Sharapova said Williams' experience of retrieving lost causes had been the key. "She's one of the best competitors out there," she said. "I mean, she's been in those situations when she was down in the third set, and out of nowhere she knows how to turn it around. That comes from experience, that comes from her fighting spirit.
Williams leads Davenport 9-4 in head-to-heads. But Davenport has the better recent record, having beaten Williams on the two occasions they met last season.
Yet the experienced 28-year-old will want to make a sharp improvement after toiling desperately against Dechy before finally staggering over the line.
She amassed 52 unforced errors, 10 double-faults and it might have been a different story had Dechy kept her composure when leading 4-1 in the second set tie-break.
Instead, she buckled and Davenport fought back to square the match, going on to clinch victory in the decider.
Davenport said she thought she had been heading for defeat. "Making as many errors as I was making and not feeling like I could even keep that many balls in, being down a set and 4-1 in the tie-break ... I was still hopeful, but it wasn't looking good," she said.
Like Sharapova, Dechy believed that her opponent's experience had been the key. "Maybe she handled the tight moments a bit better than me," said the 25-year-old, who had been playing in her first grand slam semi-final.
Davenport, who delayed retirement at the end of last season after convincing herself that she could still challenge for honours at the highest level, is now contemplating her first grand slam final for five years.
COLLATED RESULTS (x denotes seeding):
WOMEN'S SINGLES (Semi-finals):
Serena Williams (USA x7) bt Maria Sharapova (RUS x4) 2-6, 7-5, 8-6; Lindsay Davenport (USA x1) bt Nathalie Dechy (FRA x19) 2-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.
MEN'S SINGLES (Semi-finals):
Marat Safin (RUS x4) bt Roger Federer (SWI x1) 5-7, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (8/6), 9-7.
MEN'S DOUBLES (Semi-finals):
Wayne Black (ZIM)/Kevin Ullyett (ZIM x5) bt Jurgen Melzer (AUT)/Alexander Waske (GER) 6-3, 6-4; Bob Bryan (USA)/Mike Bryan (USA x2) bt Jonas Bjorkman (SWE)/Max Mirnyi (BLR x4) 6-1, 6-3.
MIXED DOUBLES (Quarter-finals):
Kevin Ullyett (ZIM)/Liezel Huber (RSA x4) bt Bob Bryan (USA)/Vera Zvonareva (RUS x5) 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 7-6 (10/8).
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