MELBOURNE, Australia — Roger Federer advanced to the Australian Open final today by beating Nicolas Kiefer 6-3, 5-7, 6-0, 6-2.

Federer was sharp — and occasionally brilliant — in beating the German for the seventh consecutive time. The six-time Grand Slam champion will face underdog Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus in Sunday's final.

"I really turned it up when I had to," said Federer, who won the Australian Open in 2004.

The Swiss star broke Kiefer early in the first set to go up 3-1, at one point sprinting from the baseline for a drop shot and flicking a backhand around the post and down the line for a clean winner.

In the same game, Federer reached another drop shot and sent a lob over Kiefer's head that the German hit long.

Kiefer won the second set after breaking Federer at 5-6. The German wasted his first opportunity with a weak forehand into the net, but Federer sliced a backhand wide on the next.

Federer committed only two unforced errors in the third set — after 26 in the first two sets — to retake control. With Federer serving at 5-0, Kiefer saw his only break point vanish on a shot that was called long but that TV replays showed was on the line.

Kiefer held serve to start the final set, but Federer then won five straight games. Kiefer saved two match points while serving at 1-5, then a third as Federer served in the next game. Federer finished it off with a serve that Kiefer whacked into the net.

Swiss flag T-shirts were scattered around Rod Laver Arena, and the crowd was clearly behind Federer against the testy Kiefer, who repeatedly questioned calls.

Kiefer was fined earlier in the tournament for swearing and was warned twice about obscenities in the quarterfinals.

On the women's side, second-seeded Kim Clijsters had to quit during her semifinal against No. 3 Amelie Mauresmo Thursday after spraining her right ankle. Mauresmo, seeking her first Grand Slam title, will face eighth-seeded Justine Henin-Hardenne on Saturday.

Henin-Hardenne extended her Australian Open winning streak to 13 matches by ousting 2004 Wimbledon winner Maria Sharapova 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Baghdatis, from the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, is a player that nobody expected to be here.

"Everything was going in, I was just in my own world I think," Baghdatis said after his semifinal win Thursday over fourth-seeded David Nalbandian. "It was crazy, the atmosphere was amazing."

That's been a familiar refrain over the past 10 days for Baghdatis.

The 20-year-old beat second-seeded Roddick in the third round and his support and notoriety has been growing steadily with each match.

Legions of Greek fans have supported him, his homeland is in raptures and his cell phone that used to only ring sporadically has had to be turned off, even blocking out a congratulatory call from the Cypriot president.