No-Miss Swiss Wins It

He was supposed to be vulnerable without a true coach to help him through the mental and physical campaign of a Grand Slam fortnight.

Then there was the psychic baggage of his December Davis Cup collapse against Australia -- losing a two-set lead on the center stage at Melbourne Park.

But in the end, it all meant nothing. Roger Federer of Switzerland flicked aside the so-called obstacles with about the same ease that he hits his sublime one-handed backhand, and won his second Grand Slam singles title.

It was Roger, over and all out, at the Australian Open. The second-seeded Federer was ruthless in his dismissal of a weary Marat Safin of Russia, winning 7-6 (3), 6-4, 6-2, today in 2 hours 15 minutes, in what will be the last afternoon men’s final here. Organizers announced it will be played at night next year.

The resurgent Safin, who had been averaging about 20 aces per match, had only three against Federer. An illustration of Federer’s dominance in this tournament: He dropped only two sets in seven matches, to Lleyton Hewitt of Australia in the fourth round and David Nalbandian of Argentina in the quarterfinals. His Wimbledon run last year was similarly convincing, as he lost one set in seven matches.

“I thought I played great basically from the first round on; normally you have some difficulties in the beginning,” Federer said. “But I never had a feeling that I had one match these two weeks where I thought, ‘I’m not hitting the ball fine.’

“It’s really nice,” he said of his second Grand Slam victory. “It gets me all emotional inside.”

Federer’s on-court celebration looked like a carbon copy of what he did after he defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain in the semifinals to take over the No. 1 ranking. He dropped to his knees, briefly, and held up his arms in victory.

“What a great start of the year for me to win the Australian Open and become No. 1 in the world,” Federer said during his on-court speech.

The Davis Cup collapse against Hewitt, in which he lost in five sets, was not far from his thoughts, either. He referred to today’s fitting conclusion, winning on the same court “where I have mixed memories because of Davis Cup. It really means very much to me.”

He also spoke about being without a coach, calling his two weeks here “difficult times.” Federer split in December with his longtime coach, former tour player Peter Lundgren, and did it alone, a rarity in the modern era of the sport.

But he did not forget Lundgren, who was courtside in July when Federer beat Mark Philippoussis in straight sets to win Wimbledon. A Swiss journalist from the newspaper Blick said that Federer made the point of sending Lundgren, who was at home in Sweden, a text message via his mobile phone, shortly after he beat Ferrero to become No. 1.

Club Federer is not a large one. His parents are rarely seen and were said to be off skiing in Switzerland during the latter stages of this event, instead of hovering courtside.

Federer is a man who travels light, on and off the court. He looked as though he was running on air in comparison to an exhausted Safin, who had spent about eight more hours on the court than Federer before the final, grinding through five-set marathons against Andy Roddick and Andre Agassi.

“I don’t want to push myself down because I lost a match against Federer,” said Safin, who broke two rackets during the final. “It’s not like I played against a yo-yo, a guy who doesn’t know how to play tennis. Let’s give him some credit. He is a big player. He’s No. 1 in the world, sorry to tell you.”

Safin’s resurgence was the story of the tournament until Federer took it over. Safin had missed most of 2003 with a career-threatening left wrist injury. He finally found the right solution in Los Angeles, meeting up with Dr. Keith Feder. Feder said in a phone interview earlier in this tournament that Safin had feared his career might be over.

Those concerns evaporated and Safin, the 2000 U.S. Open champion, is now a genuine contender again. With his power game, this two-week run cannot be dismissed as a fluke. He came up exhausted and a step slow against an inspired Federer.

One of Safin’s two service breaks in the match came in the third game of the first set but he simply could not consolidate it. Federer responded with a break in the next game and they exchanged breaks again, in the sixth and seventh games, before getting back on serve.

Safin saved two set points at 5-6 to send it into a tiebreaker. Federer got out in front, 4-2, and did not let up, eventually taking the set with a forehand winner down the line. His confidence kept growing and he didn’t face a break point in the final two sets.

Fans exhorted Safin to press on. He kept answering, “I’m trying, I’m trying.” After all, the crowd at Rod Laver Arena had been spoiled by so many Safin comebacks in the tournament.

Federer had other ideas, of course. He simply made sure the pre-final appetizers stayed better than the main course.

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The bid by Martina Navratilova and Leander Paes to repeat last year’s mixed doubles triumph at the Australian Open fell short at the wire. In the final, the pickup team of Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia and Elena Bovina of Russia defeated Paes, of India, and Navratilova, 6-1, 7-6 (3), in 1 hour 9 minutes.

Zimonjic said during his acceptance speech that he didn’t have a partner for mixed doubles, so he left a note at the WTA desk and soon, Bovina materialized. Paes, who missed the U.S. Open in September because of a brain lesion, gave a sweet speech, paying homage to Navratilova, who said this was her final Australian Open.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

BOX SCORE

MEN’S SINGLES CHAMPIONSHIP

Roger Federer (2) def. Marat Safin, 7-6 (3), 6-4, 6-2.

*--* Safin Federer 1st Serve Percentage...49 53 Aces...3 8 Double Faults...5 21 Unforced Errors...41 28 1st Serve Winning Pct....63 75 2nd Serve Winning Pct....47 60 Winners (including service)...19 40 Break Points...2-3 5-18 Net Points...21-38 17-25 Total Points Won...93 113 Time of Match...2:15

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