Reuters
 
Melbourne, Jan 11: World number one Roger Federer eased past Russia's Marat Safin 6-3, 7-6 to book his place in the final of the Kooyong Classic invitational event on Thursday.

It was sweet revenge for the Swiss in only their second meeting since the epic Australian Open semi-final of 2005, when Safin defeated Federer 9-7 in the fifth set and went on to win the Melbourne Park crown.

A single break was sufficient for the Swiss maestro to clinch the opening set but Safin broke in game six of the second before serving for the set at 5-3.

But Federer broke back and then levelled before storming through the tie-break, winning it 7-2 to complete victory in an hour and five minutes and move into Saturday's final.

Federer, the defending Australian Open champion, opened his 2007 campaign with a three-set win over Radek Stepanek on Wednesday in his first competitive match since winning the Masters Cup in Shanghai in November.

The Australian Open starts on Monday.